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AST JASPER AT TOBT MOULTRIE. — PAGE 89. 



HEROES AND PATRIOTS 

OF TKE SOUTH; 



COMPRISING 



LIVES OF 



GENERAL FRANCIS MARION, GENERAL.WIL- 

LIAM MOULTRIE, GENERAL ANDREW 

PICKENS, AND GOVERNOR 

JOHN RUTLEDGE. 



WITH SKETCHES 

OF OTHER DISTINGUISHED HEROES AND PATRIOTS 

WHO SERVED IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

IN THE SOUTHERN STATES. 

By CECIL B. HARTLEY. 



"WITH ENGRAVINGS FROM ORIGINAL DESIGNS, 

By G. G. WHITE. 



PHILADELPHIA : 
G. a, EVANS, PUBLISHER, 

No. 439 CHESTNUT STREET. 

1860. 




t. 



Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by 

G. G. EVANS, 

in the Clerk's Office of tlie District Court for the E;ist3rn District of 
Pennsylvanin, 



/ / <^^ 



PREFACE. 



The purpose of the following work is to record the actions 
of some of the most celebrated of the many heroes and pa- 
triots who distinguished themselves by eminent services in 
the Revolutionary War, in the Southern States of the Union. 
Among these General Marion, whose life occupies a consider- 
able portion of the volume, was one of the most remarkable 
characters who figured on the grand theatre of war in those 
times that '' tried men's souls." He was one of those men 
who are born to command. His active and brilliant ca- 
reer as leader of the famous '' Marion's Brigade," has scarcely 
a parallel in history ; and his success in defending the 
Carolinas against the enem}'', at a time when he was almost 
alone in the field, is due in a great measure to his power of at- 
tracting the personal regard of his men, and keeping them in 
active service, while surrounded by every species of discour- 
a^-ement, and the incessant dano-er of their utter destruction 
by the overwhelming force of the enemy. Marion's achieve- 
ments were of the most heroic and romantic character; and 
are always read with interest and admiration. 

General Moultrie, the illustrious defender of the fortress 
which bears his name, is not less interesting in his way. He 
was remarkable for cool courage, invincible resolution, sound 
judgment, and excellent common sense. The city of Charles- 
ton was twice saved from capture by his exertions. His 

(3) 



^2^ 



4 PREFACE. 

military career was unfortunately terminated wlien on a third 
attack the enemy succeeded in taking the place, and the -whole 
of its defenders became prisoners of war. In the life of Moul- 
trie, contained in this volume, we have frequently quoted his 
own '' Memoirs of the Revolution/' a most interesting and 
valuable work. 

General Pickens was the companion of Marion in some of his 
daring enterprises, an able and efficient coadjutor of General 
Greene, and one of the most useful of all the general officers 
who assisted in recovering the Southern States from the enemy. 

Governor Ilutledgc was the most distinguished of all the 
Southern patriots, in the civil line. To his exertions the whole 
military force were greatly indebted for the success of their 
operations. As governor and dictator of South Carolina, he 
rendered services to the cause, of the most important nature, 
and displayed a character and ability equal to every emer- 
gency of those critical and perilous times. 

Of several other military commanders and statesmen, we 
have given but slight sketches, in consequence of the brief 
space to which we were limited; but we trust that we have 
been successful in conveying to the mind of the reader a tol- 
erably clear conception of the peculiar nature of the war in 
the Southern States, and of the characters of some of its lead- 
ing spirits as displayed in the field and in the cabinet. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Francis Marion — Descendant from French Huguenots — Sketch of the 
history of the Huguenots of France — Repeal of the Edict of Nantz 
— Einigration of the Huguenots to foreign countries — A party among 
whom were the ancestors of Marion settled in South Carolina — Suffer- 
ings of the emigrants described by Mrs. Manigault — Happy condi- 
tion of the Carolina Huguenots as described by Mr. Laurens — 
Jealousy of the English settlers — The French refugees denied political 
rights — Political rights subsequently granted to them 13 

CHAPTER II. 

Marion's descent — His grandfather a French Huguenot — His father 
and family — His feeble childhood — He desires to become a sailor — 
Opposed hj' his mother — Goes to sea — The vessel founders at sea, and 
he has a narrow escape from death — Returns to farming — Parallel- 
isms in the lives of Washington and Marion — Both pass much of 
their lives as planters — Both serve in the Indian and Revolutionary 
wars — Some characteristics of Marion 29 

C HAPTER III. 

Marlon's first military service in the war with the Cherokces — Origin 
of the war — Horse stealing — Revenge of the Virginians — Attack of 
the Cherokees on the Carolinians — Marion serves in a troop of cav- 
ah-y — The Indians send chiefs to Charleston to make peace — Lyttle- 
ton detains them and marches into the Indian country — Chiefs 
shut up at Fort Prince George — Conference with Attakullakulla — 
Treaty^Small-pox in tlie camp — Cost of Lyttleton's expedition — 
Great joy of the Carolinians — Marion has no opportunity for distinc- 
tion in this campaign 33 

5 



6 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

PAGE 

Second campaign against the Cherokees — Surprise and death of Cap- 
tain Cotymore — Murder of the Indian hostages — Terrible revenge of 
the Indians on the frontier inhabitants — General Amherst sends a 
force of regulars to Carolina under Colonel Montgomery — Governor 
Bull succeeds Lyttleton — Arrival of Montgomery — The militia ren- 
dezvous at Congarees — Marion with the army — Capture of Indian 
towns — Difficult march — Action near Etchoe — Return of Montgomery 
— Siege and surrender of Fort Loudon — Noble conduct of Attakulla- 
kulla to Captain Stuart 42 

CHAPTE R V. 

Renewal of hostilities by the Cherokees — Expedition of Colonel Grant 
— Marion serves in the regiment of provincial volunteers a lieutenant 
under Captain William Moultrie — Advance to the Cherokee country 
— Marion leads the forlorn hope in the battle of Etchoe — Narrow 
escape with his life — The Cherokees subdued — Marion's remarks on 
the treatment of the Indians by the whites 53 

CHAPTER VI. 

Marion and Washington follow farming as a pursuit for several years — 
Washington's political course — South Carolina takes a prominent part 
in the Revolution — Organizes a Provincial Congress — Marion a mem- 
ber — Acts of that Congress — Arrival of Lord William Campbell — Ac- 
tivity of the members of Congress — Colonel Moultrie — His account 
of the acts of the patriots — NeAvs of the battle of Lexington — Seizure 
of arms, gunpowder, and of the royal mail 59 

CHAPTER VII. 

Meeting of the Provincial Congress of South Carolina — State of affairs 
— The Congress raises an army — Obtains powder — Military ardor of 
leading citizens--Officers of the army chosen by ballot — The Rangers — 
Distinguished men among the officers — Colonel Moultrie in command 
of the second regiment — Marion and Peter Horry captains in the 
same regiment — Their complete success in recruiting men for their 
Companies 66 

CHAPTER VITI. 

Noble conduct of Carolina at the commencement of the Revolutionary 
War — State of parties — Activity of the tories — Marion concerned in 



CONTENTS. 7 

PAGE 

the Grst act of open hostility — The capture of Fort Johnson — Colonel 
Moultrie directs this service — His account of the capture, and of the 
events immediately succeeding it 70 

CHAPTER IX. 

State of parties — Captain Thornborough threatens to intercept vessels 
bound to Charleston — Meeting of Congress — The first actual fighting 
— Regiment of artillery raised — Moultrie drives the British men of 
war out of the harbor of Charleston — Two regiments of riflemen or- 
dered to be raii-ed — Marion in command at Dorchester — At Fort 
Johnson — Marion promoted to the rank of Major — His excellent dis- 
cipline — Marion engaged in erecting Fort Sullivan — Arrival of Gene- 
ral Lee — His opinion in favor of abandoning Fort Sullivan — Colonel 
Moultrie's account of the defence of Fort Sullivan 78 

CHAPTER X. 

Effect of the battle of Fort Moultrie — Rewards to the victors — Presenta- 
tion of flags — Marion promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel — 
Another Indian war — Marion sent to Georgia with reinforcements — 
Placed in command of Fort Moultrie — Invasion and subjugation of 
Georgia — General Lincoln placed in command of the southern de- 
partment — Bad state of defence in which be found South Carolina — 
He advances to Purysburg 92 

CHAPTER XI. 

Change in the aspect of affairs — General Pickens defeats Colonel Byrd 
— General Lincoln sends General Ashe into Georgia — Defeat of Ashe 
— Its disastrous consequences — Lincoln marches into Georgia — Pre- 
vost menaces Charleston — Subsequent operations — Marion at Fort 
Moultrie — Siege of Savannah — Obstinacy and folly of Count D' Es- 
taing — He grants delay to the garrison till it is reinforced and com- 
pels an assault unnecessarily — Marion takes part in the assault — 
The colors of the Second Regiment planted in the British lines — Se- 
veral ofiicers killed in defending them — Death of Sergeant Jasper — 
The siege raised and the expedition totally defeated — Depreciation of 
the paper currency 99 

CHAPTER XII 

Marion in command at Sheldon — Stationed at Bacon's Bridge — Siege 
and fall of Charleston — How Jlarion escaped captivity — His retire- 



8 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

ment at St. John's — Infamous treatment of the South Carolinians by 
the British — Defeat of Buford — Clinton's proclamation — Cornwallis 
left in command — His proceedings 109 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Marion leaves St. John's and takes shelter in the woods and swamps — 
Joins the Continental army in North Carolina — Appearance of his 
men— Invited to Williamsburg — Appointed Brigadier General — Starts 
for Williamsburg — Gates's character — His defeat — Success and sub- 
sequent surprise and defeat of Sumter , , 117 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The people of Williamsburg — Their character and proceedings — Mis- 
sion of Major James to Captain Ardesoif — Bravery and patriotism of 
James — His report — Formation of Marion's brigade — McCottry and 
Tarleton — Marion takes the command — His character and appearance 
at this time — State of the brigade — Arms made of mill-saws— Marion 
defeats Major Gainey and Captain Barfield — Captures an escort of 
Maryland prisoners — They refuse to join the brigade — Their reasons 
— Atrocious instructions ofRawdon and Cornwallis to their oflBcers — 
Marion's opinion 124 

CHAPTER XV. 

Marion's activity — Colonel Wemyss sent in pursuit of him — Marion re- 
treats to North Carolina — Cruelties, murders, and burnings by We- 
myss — Marion returns to South Carolina — Defeats Captain Ball at 
Black Mingo — Deliberates on joining General Greene — Surprises Col- 
onel Tynes and captures valuable arms and stores — Cornwallis sends 
Tarleton to capture Marion — He is foiled, and returns without meet- 
ing him — Marion's brother killed by a tory — Marion entertains a Bri- 
tish officer at Snow's Island 134 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Greene succeeds Gates — Battle of the Cowpens — Lee and Marion attack 
Georgetown — Escape of Watson — Marion organizes four new compa- 
nies — Operations of Horry and Postell — Battle of Guilford — Colonels 
Watson and Doyle sent to drive Marion out of the country — Affair of 
Peter Horry— Colonel Tynes defeated — Major Mcllraith encountered 
by Marion — Proposal to fight — Backing out— Encounters of Colonel 



CONTENTS. 9 

PAGE 

Watson and Marion — Watson driven into Georgetown — Doyle plun- 
ders Marion's camp at Snow's Island and escapes to Camden — Mari- 
on's council with bis officers 142 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Eetreat of Watson — Siege and capture of Fort Watson by Marion and 
Lee — Battle of Hobkirk's Hill — Watson escapes to Camden — Siege of 
Fort Motte — Noble conduct of Mrs. Motte — Marion rescues a pri- 
soner from assassination..... 155 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

General Greene's opinion of General Marion — Misunderstanding be- 
tween Marion and Greene — Reconciled — Lord Rawdon evacuates 
Camden — General Sumter takes Orangeburg — Lee captures Fort 
Granby — Siege of Ninety-Six — Greene pursues Rawdon to Orange- 
burg and offers battle — The British garrison evacuates Ninety-Six, 
and joins Rawdon at Orangeburg — Operations of Greene to cause the 
evacuation of Orangeburg — Sumter and Marion sent to the posts at 
Monk's Corner and Dorchester — Colonel Wade Hampton's exploits — 
Attack on Colonel Coates at Shubrick'a plantation — Effect of these 
operations on the country — Lord Rawdon sails for Europe 169 

CHAPTER XIX. 

State of the southern country — Bitter hostility between the contending 
parties — Cruel excesses — Moderation of General Greene — Rawdon 
succeeded by Stewart — Greene prepares to attack Stewart — Secret 
expedition of Marion — He defeats the British force under Major Fra- 
zer, and relieves Colonel Harden — Receives the thanks of Congress — 
Battle of Eutavr Springs , 179 

C HAPTER XX. 

Events succeeding the battle of Eutaw — Marion chosen to a seat in the 
Assembly of South Carolina — Laws passed by the Assembly — Ma- 
rion's brigade suffers a severe defeat in his absence — He returns to 
the brigade and restores order and reinspires confidence — Greene 
takes post at Bacon's Bridge — Mutiny in his army 186 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Marion takes post at Sinkler's plantation — Suppresses an insurrection in 
North Carolina — Second treaty with Gainey — Rescuea Butler— Af- 



# 



10 CONTENTS. 

PAQE 

fair of Fanning — Marion defeats Frazer — General Leslie seeks an 
armistice, which Greene refuses — Leslie's incursions into the country 
to obtain provisions — Resisted by Gist's detachment — Colonel Lau- 
rens killed — Evacuation of Charleston by the British army 198 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Marion's parting with the brigade— His resemblance to Washington — 
He retires to his plantation — Finds it desolated — Resumes his agri- 
cultural pursuits — Is elected Senator — The confiscation act — Anec- 
dote of his magnanimity — Voted thanks and a medal by the Senate — 
Appointed to command Fort Johnson — Marion's marriage — His death 
— His character 206 

o 

MAJOE GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

CHAPTER I. 

Family and birth of Moultrie — His services in the war with the Chero- 
kees — Returns to his plantation — Condition of South Carolina — ■ 
Moultrie takes an active part at the opening of the Revolution — 
Member of Provincial Congress — Chosen Colonel of the famous Se- 
cond Regiment of South Carolina — Seizes the king's stores of arms 
and ammunition — Devises the flag — Drives the British ships out of 
Charleston harbor 213 

CHAPTER II. 

Invasion of South Carolina by the flest and army under Gen. Clinton 
— Defence of Sullivan's Island by Colonel Moultrie — Opinions of Ge- 
neral Lee and Governor Rutledge — Presentation of colors to the Se- 
cond Regiment — Otiicers who were in Fort Sullivan on the 2Sth of 
June — Vote of thanks by Congress — Declaration of Independence 
read to the army — Lee's expedition to Florida — Moultrie predicts its 
failure — It fails — Lee's thanks to the troops— General Moultrie's bri- 
gade placed on the continental establishment — General Lee goes to 
the north — Moore succeeds him — Moultrie stationed at Haddrill's 
Point — Nash succeeds Moore 218 

CHAPTER III. 

Moultrie attached to Lincoln's army — Moultrie's account of the fall of 
Savannah, and the succeeding events — Moultrie at Purysburg — Or- 
dered to Port Royal Island — Defeats the Britisli there — Lincoln 
marches into Georgia — General Prevost enters South Carolina and 



CONTENTS. 11 

PAGE 

marches for Charleston — His inarch retarded by Moultrie — Moultrie 
defends Charleston against Prevost and prevents its capture — Pre- 
vost returns to Georgia 228 

CHAPTER IV. 

General Moultrie appointed commander in chief of the Southern army 
to take the place of Lincoln, who has permission to retire on the plea 
of ill health — Lincoln however remains with the army — His dissatis- 
faction at the criticisms on his campaign in Georgia — The correspon- 
dence between Jay and Moultrie respecting his appointment — Gene- 
ral Moultrie attends the legislature as a Senator — His notice of the 
siege of Savannah 238 

CHAPTER V 

Moultrie stationed at Bacon's Bridge — His force there — Leaves his 
command and goes to Charleston — Siege of Charleston — Surrender — 
Coolness of Moultrie — His account of the surrender and the explosion 
of the magazine — Moultrie sent to Haddrill's Point 244 

CHAPTER VI. 

Moultrie a prisoner at Charleston — Attempt of Colonel Balfour and Lord 
Montague to gain him over to the British side — Balfour's letter to 
Moultrie's son — Lord Montague's letter to Moultrie, and his noble 
answer — Moultrie's important services while a prisoner in Charles- 
ton — Exchange of prisoners — Moultrie goes to Philadelphia on pa- 
role — Is exchanged — Returns to his plantation in South Carolina — 
Is present at the evacuation of Charleston by the British — His de- 
scription of the scene — Moultrie elected Governor of South Carolina 
—Close of his life 254 

MAJOE GENERAL ANDREW PICKENS. 

CHAPTER I. 

Birth and ancestry of General Pickens — His father emigrates to Vir- 
ginia, and afterwards to South Carolina — Pickens serves in the 
French war, and in the Cherokee war — Engages in farming at the 
Long Cane settlement — Serves in the Revolutionary war in the South 
— Defeats the loyalists at Kettle Creek — Services after the fall of 
Charleston — At the battle of Cowpens — Attached to the main army — 
Detached with Marion to North Carolina — Pursuit of Tarleton, and 
defeat of Pyle 269 



12 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER II. 

PAGE 

Pickens and Lee besiege and take Augusta — They rejoin the main army 
— Battle of Eutaw — Pickens's expedition against the Cherokee In- 
dians — Services as commissioner under the treaty of Hopewell — 
Member of the Convention of South Carolina — Of the Legislature — 
Member of Congress — Consulted by Washington on Indian affairs — 
Appointed Major General — Retires from public life — Recalled to the 
Legislature in 1812 — His death and character 280 

GOVERNOR JOHN RUTLEDGE. 

CHAPTER I. 

Birth and parentage of Governor Rutledge— Education — Practice at 
the bar — Resistance to Governor Boone — Member of the Continental 
Congress — Member of the Convention — Member of Congress — Presi- 
dent of South Carolina — His conduct in relation to the defence of 
Fort Moultrie 291 

CHAPTER II. 

Eutledge chosen Governor of South Carolina — Member of Congress — 
His important services — Minister to Holland — Judge of the Court of 
Chancery — Member of Constitutional Convention — Associate Judge 
of Supreme Court — Chief Justice of the United States — His death 298 

Governor Edwarb Rutledge 305 

Colonel John Laurens 310 

Colonel John Eager Howard 317 

Colonel Carrington ■- 318 

Captain O'Neal 319 



LIFE OF 



GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 



CHAPTER I. 



Francis Marion — Descectlant from French Huguenots — Sketch of 
the history of the Huguenots in France — Repeal of the Edict of 
Nantz — Emigration of the Huguenots to foreign countries — A party 
among whom were the ancestors of Marion settled in South Carolina 
— Sufferings of the emigrants described by Mrs. Manigault — Happy 
condition of the Carolina Huguenots as described by Mr. Laurens 
Jealousy of the English Settlers — The French refugees denied poli- 
tical rights — Political rights subsequently granted to them. 

General Francis Marion was one of the most cele- 
brated heroes of the Revolutionary War. His fame 
rests upon the extraordinary nature of his services ; and 
these were owing to the peculiar characteristics of his 
mind. In person, he was slight and diminutive ; and 
no instance of victory in single combat is recorded 
among his exploits ; but in the strategy required by his 
position and resources, in the moral firmness, so indispen- 
sable to a great commander, and in the personal influ- 
ence which holds captive the hearts of the soldiery, and 

commands their most unlimited devotion, he was unri- 

(13) 



14 LIFE OF GENERAL FRAI>^CIS MARION. 

vailed. Even Washington and Napoleon -were not liis 
superiors, in this respect. In the South, during his 
life-time, his popularity was unbounded ; and since his 
decease, his fame has become the cherished possession 
of his country, destined to endure till the sun of Ameri- 
can liberty and independence shall set, to rise no more. 
General Marion was descended from the old French 
Huguenot stock. Better blood never flowed in the veins 
of heroes, patriots, and martyrs. Among them were 
men, and women too, who perilled all, sacrificed all, 
wdiich the world holds dear, for conscience sake. The 
Piln-rim Fathers suffered for the cause of relis-ion. But 

O o 

their sufferings will not bear comparison Avith those of 
the Huguenots. 

We trust the reader will pardon us for giving a slight 
sketch of the history of these noble defenders of the 
Protestant religion. 

The principles of Luther and Zwinglius had gained an 
entrance into France, during the reign of Francis I. 
(1515 — 47). The doctrines of Calvin spread still more 
widely, although Francis endeavored to suppress them, 
by prohibiting Calvinistic books, and by penal laws, and, 
in some instances, by capital punishments. 

Under Henry II., the successor of Francis, these doc- 
trines made greater progress, in proportion as they were 
more violently persecuted. The opinions and influence 
Queen Margaret of Navarre had no small share in this 
extension, and the parties at court contributed much to 
the bloody persecution of the Protestants. One party 
washed to enrich themselves by the estates of the here- 
tics, who were executed or banished, and the other to 



BOURBONS AND GUISES. 15 

gain the favor of the people by their punishment. The 
parties of the Bourbons and of the five princes of Guise, 
under the government of the weak Francis II., made use 
of this religious dispute, in order to advance their own 
political ends. 

The Bourbons belonged to the Protestant party ; and 
the Guises, in order to weaken, and, if possible, to de- 
stroy their rivals, continued the persecution of the here- 
tics with fanatical fury. In every parliament, there was 
a chamber established to examine and punish the Pro- 
testants, called by the people the burning chamber (chain- 
bre ardente)y because all convicted of heresy were burnt. 
The estates of those who fled were sold, and their chil- 
dren who remained behind were exposed to the greatest 
sufferings. But notwithstanding this persecution, the 
Protestants would not have thought of a rebellion, had 
not a prince of the blood encouraged them to it, by the 
promise of his assistance. 

In 1560, the conspiracy began. The discontented 
inquired of lawyers and theologians, whether they could, 
with a good conscience, take arms against the Guises. 
The Protestant divines in Germany declared it proper 
to resist the tyranny of the Guises, if it were under the 
guidance and direction of a prince of the blood, and with 
the approbation of the majority in the states. 

The malcontents having consulted upon the choice of 
a leader, all voices decided in favor of the brave Prince 
Louis of Condd, who had conducted the whole affair, and 
gladly seized the opportunity to make himself formidable 
by the support of the Huguenots. The name of 
the leader was, however, kept secret, and a Protestant 



16 LIFE OF GENERAL FEANCIS MARION. 

gentleman of Perigord, John du Barry, seigneur of Re- 
naudie, was appointed his deputy. 

It was determined, that a number of the Calvinists 
should appear on an appointed day, before the king at 
Blois, to present a petition for the free exercise of their 
religion ; and, in case this request was denied, as it was 
foreseen it would be, a chosen band of armed Protestants 
were to make themselves masters of the city of Blois, 
seize the Guises, and compel the king to name the 
prince of Conde, regent of the realm. 

This plot was betrayed. The court left Blois, the 
military were summoned, and the greatest part of the 
Protestants, who had armed themselves to carry the 
conspiracy into effect, were executed or imprisoned. 
Few of those who fell into the power of the court, found 
mercy; and about 1200 expiated their offence with 
their lives. 

The Guises now desired to establish the inquisition, 
but the wise chancellor, Michael de I'Hopital, in order 
to avoid the greater evil, advised that all inquiries into 
the crime of heresy should be committed to the bishops, 
and that parliament should be prohibited from exercising 
any jurisdiction in matters of faith ; and it was so or- 
dered by the edict of Bomorantin (1560). 

In the reign of the next king, Charles IX., during 
whose minority the queen mother, Catharine de Medici, 
was at the head of the government, the contest between 
the parties became yet more violent, and their contend- 
ing interests were more and more used for a pretence to 
accomplish unholy designs ; and it was only from mo- 
tives of policy that the free exercise of their religion 



MASSACRE OF VASSY. 17 

"was secured to the Protestants, by the qiicen, in order 
to preserve the balance between the parties, by the edict 
of January (1562), so called. The Protestants thereby 
gained new courage ; but their adversaries, dissatisfied 
with this ordinance, and regardless of decency, disturbed 
tiic IIuo;uenots in their religious services. Bloodv scenes 
were the result, and the massacre of Vassy (1592) was 
the immediate cause of the first civil war. 

These reli£[;ious wars desolated France almost to the 
16th century, and were only interrupted by occasional 
tj"uccs. The suffering which these wars brought upon 
the people, is to be ascribed to the instability and bad 
policy of Queen Catharine de Medici, who exerted the 
most decided influence, not only over the feeble Charles 
IX., but likewise over the contemptible Henry III. She 
wished, in fsict, for the extirpation of the Huguenots, 
and it was merely her intriguing policy, which induced 
her, much to the vexation of the opposite party, to favor 
the Protestants from time to time, and to grant them 
freedom of conscience. Always wavering between the 
two parties, she flattered herself with the expectation of 
holding them in check during peace, or of destroying the 
one by the other in war. Both parties were, therefore, 
generally dissatisfied with the court, and followed their 
own leaders. 

A wild fanaticism seized the people. Heated with 
passion and religious hatred, they endeavored only to 
injure each other; and, with the exception of some party 
leaders, who made use of this excitement for the accom- 
plishment of their own ambitious schemes, their only 
2 



18 LIFE OF GENERAL FRAXCIS MARION. 

object was to acquire the superiority for their own creed, 
by fire and sword. 

The horrible effect of Catharine's policy was the mas- 
sacre of St. BartholomcAv's (1572), of which she and her 
son, her pupil in dissimulation, had laid the plan with 
their confidants. Shortly before the line of kings of the 
house of Yalois had become extinct with Henry III., and 
the w^ay was opened for the house of Bourbon, the head 
of which was the Protestant Henry king of Navarre, the 
relations of the two parties became still more involved. 

The feeble king found himself compelled to unite with 
the king of Navarre against the common enemy, as the 
intrigues of the ambitious Guises, who openly aimed at 
the throne, had excited the people against him in such a 
degree, that he was on the point of losing the crown. 

After the assassination of Henry III., the king of 
Navarre was obliged to maintain a severe struggle for 
the vacant throne ; and not until he had, by the advice 
of Sully, embraced the Catholic religion (1593), did he 
enjoy quiet possession of the kingdom. 

Five years afterwards, he secured to the Huguenots 
their civil rights, by the edict of Nantes, w^hich con- 
firmed to them the free exercise of their religion, and 
gave them equal" claims with the Catholics to all offices 
and dignities. They w^ere also left in possession of the 
fortresses which had been ceded to them for their 
security. 

This edict afforded them the means of forming a kind 
of republic within the kingdom, and such a powerful 
party, which had for a long time been obliged to be dis- 
trustful of the government, would always offer to the 



THE IIUGtTENOTS. 19 

restless nobility a rallying point and a prospect of assis- 
tance. 

Louis XIII., the weak and bigoted son of the liberal 
and magnanimous Henry lY., allowed himself to be in- 
fluenced by his ambitious favorite, De Luinnes, and his 
confessor, against the Huguenots, who were able to offer 
a powerful resistance, as they had become very numerous 
in many provinces. But in the first religious war, which 
broke out in 1621, the Protestants lost the greatest part 
of their strong places, through the faithlessness or cow- 
ardice of the governors. Some of these, however, and 
among the rest Rochelle, remained to them, when, dis- 
united among themselves and weary of war, they con- 
cluded a peace. 

Kochelle enabled them to keep up a connection with 
England ; and Richelieu, who aimed to make the royal 
power, which he exercised under the name of Louis, ab- 
solute, used every means to deprive the Protestants of 
this bulwark of their liberty, and thus destroy every 
remnant of a leaOTe which recalled the times when civil 
factions had so often weakened the royal power. 

Rochelle fell into the hands of Louis, after an obsti- 
nate defence, in 1629 ; the Huguenots were obliged to 
surrender all their strongholds, and were thus left entirely 
at the mercy of the king. Freedom of conscience was 
indeed promised them, and Richelieu and his successor 
Mazarin did not disturb them in the enjoyment of it ; 
but when Louis XIV. abandoned his voluptuous life for 
an affected devotion, he was led by his confessors and 
Madame de Maintenon, to persecute the Protestants, for 



20 LIFE OF GENERAL FEANCIS MARION. 

the purpose of bringing them back to the bosom of the 
true church. 

In 1681, he deprived them of most of their civil rights, 
and, on the death of Colbert, Avho had generally opposed 
violent measures, he followed altogether the advice of 
his counsellors, who were in favor of persecution — his 
minister of w^ar, Louvois, the chancellor Le Tellier, and 
the Jesuit La Chaise, his father confessor. Bodies of 
dragoons were sent into the southern provinces, where 
the Protestants were most numerous, to compel the un- 
happy inhabitants to abjure their faith. 

To prevent the emigration of the Protestants, the 
frontiers were guarded with the utmost vigilance ; yet 
more than 500,000 Huguenots fled to Switzerland, Ger- 
many, Holland, and England. Many who could not 
escape, were obliged to renounce their faith. Lists of 
Protestants, who, it was pretended, had been converted, 
were sent to the king, and it was very easy for his flat- 
tering counsellors to persuade him that he had gained 
honor, by having almost extirpated the Protestants in 
France. Under this erroneous supposition, he revoked 
the Edict of Nantz, Oct. 22, 1G85. But he had still 
more than half a million of Protestant subjects, and this 
unjust and umvise revocation robbed Prance of a great 
number of useful and rich inhabitants, whose industry, 
wealth, and skill, found a welcome reception in foreign 
countries. 

It was not till five years after the revocation of the 
Edict of Nantz, (about 1690,) that a certain considera- 
ble body of French Huguenots, among whom were the 
ancestors of Marion, emigrated to South Carolina, and 



HUGUENOTS IX SOUTH CAROLINA. 21 

took up tlicir residence in that province, which had then 
been settled only twenty years before by British colo- 
nists. As they were of the same religion, and were 
generally poor and destitute, having been robbed of 
their property before leaving France, they were received 
with open arms, and had afibrded them the shelter and 
asylum which they sought. They were not the only 
party of French Huguenots who settled in South Caro- 
lina, others having come before them ; and others who 
had settled previously in England, and in the more nor- 
thern states being destined to come after them. The 
party of wdiich we speak had escaped from France to 
England, and then had emigrated to South Carolina.* 
It consisted of eighty or a hundred families, who set- 
tled on the banks of the Santee river, at first ; and from 
them that part of the country in the old maps was called 
French Santee. They subsequently extended their set- 
tlements toward the Wynyah and the sources of the 
Cooper river. 

* The revocation of the Edict of Nantz, fifteen years subsequent to 
the settlement of Carolina, contributed much to its population. In 
it, soon after that event, were transplanted from France the stocks 
from which have sprung the respectable families of Bonneau, Boune- 
theau, Bordeaux, Benoist, Boiseau, Bocquet, Bacot, Chevalier, Cordes, 
Couterier, Chastagnier, Dupre, Del3'sle, Dubose, Dubois, Deveaux, I)u- 
tarque, De la Consiliere, De Leiseline, Douxsaint, Du Pont, Du Bour- 
dieu, D'Harriette, Faucheraud, Foissin, Faysoux, Gaillard, Geudron, 
Gignilliat, Guerard, Godin, Girardeau, Guerrin, Gourdine, Horry, 
HuGER, Jeannerette,Legare, Laurens, La Roche, Lenud, Lansac, Ma- 
rion, Mazyck, Manigault, IMellichamp, Mouzon, Michau, Neufville, 
Prioleau, Peronneau, Perdriau, Porcher, Postell. Peyre, Poyas, Ra- 
vcnel, Royer, Simons, Sarazin, St. Julien, Serre, Trezevant. Ram- 
saifs Hiotory of Souih Carolina. 



22 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

What sort of trials these Carolina Huguenots had 
to undergo may be learnt by the following quotation 
from Eamsay's History of South Carolina : 

A letter wi-itten in French by Judith Manigault, the 
■wife of Peter Manigault, -^ho were the founders of the 
"worthy family of that name, may giye some faint idea 
of the suiferings of these French Protestant refugees. 
This lady, when about twenty years old, embarked in 
1685 for Carolina, by the way of London. After her 
arriyal, she ■v^Tote to her brother a letter, giving an ac- 
count of her adventures. This letter translated into 
English, is as follows : — '* Since you desire it, I will 
give you an account of our quitting France, and of our 
arrival in Carolina. During eight months, we had suf- 
fered from the contributions and the quartering of the 
soldiers, with many other inconveniences. We therefore 
resolved on quitting France by night, leaving the sol- 
diers in their beds, and abandonins; the house with its 
furnitm-e. We contrived to hide ourselves at Eomans, 
in Dauphigny. for ten days, while a search was made 
after us ; but our hostess being faithful, did not betray 
us when questioned if she had seen us. From thence we 
passed to Lyons — from thence to Dijon — from which 
place, as well as from Langres, my eldest brother wrote 
to you : but I know not if either of the letters reached 
you. He informed you that we were quitting France. 
He went to Madame de Choiseiirs, which was of no avail 
as she was dead, and her son-in-law had the command 
of every thing : moreover, he gave us to understand that 
he perceived our intention of quitting France, and if 
we asked any favors from him, he would inform a-jainst 



EMBARK FOR CAROLINA. 23 

U5. We therefore made the best of our war for Metz, 
in Lorraine, where we embarked on the river Moselle, in 
order to go to Treves — from thence we passed to 
Cochieim, and to Coblentz — ^from thence to Cologne, 
where we quitted the Rhine, to go bv land to Wesel, 
"where we met with an host, who spoke a little French, 
and who informed us we were only thirty leagues from 
Lunenburg. We knew that tou were in winter quar- 
ters there, bv a letter of vours, received fifteen davs 
before our departure from France, which mentioned that 
you should winter there. Our deceased mother and 
myself earnestly besought my eldest brother to go that 
way with us ; or, leaving us with her, to pay you a visit 
alone. It was in the depth of winter : but he would not 
hear of it, having Carolina so much in his head that he 
dreaded losing any opportunity of going thither. Oh, 
what grief the losing so fine an opportunity of seeing you 
at least once more, has caused me I How have I re- 
gretted seeing a brother show so little feeling, and how 
often have I reproached him with it I but he was our 
master, and we were constrained to do as he pleased. 
We passed on to Holland, to go from thence to England. 
I do not recollect exactly the year,* whether '84: or So, 
but it was that in which king Charles of England died, 
(Feb. 1685.) We remained in London three months, 
waiting for a passage to Carolina. Having embarked, 
we were sadly ofi": the spotted fever made its appearance 
on board our vessel, of which disease many died, and 
among them our aged mother. Xine months elapsed 
before our arrival in Carolina. We touched at two 
ports — one a Portuguese, and the other an island called 



24 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

Bermuda, belonging to the English, to refit our vessel, 
which had been much injured in a storm. Our captain 
having committed some misdemeanor, was put in prison, 
and the vessel seized. Our money Avas all spent, aaid it 
was with great difficulty we procured a passage in an- 
other vessel. After our arrival in Carolina, we suifered 
every kind of evil. In about eighteen months our elder 
brother, unaccustomed to the hard labor we were obliged 
to undergo, died of a fever. Since leaving France we 
had experienced every kind of affliction — disease — pesti- 
lence — famine — -poverty — hard labor. I have been for 
six months together without tasting bread, working the 
ground like a slave ; and I have even passed three or 
four years without always having it when I wanted it. 
God has done great things for us, in enabling us to bear 
up under so many trials. I should never have done, 
were I to attempt to detail to you all our adventures : 
Let it suffice that God has had compassion on me, and 
changed my fate to a more happy one, for which glory 
be unto him." The writer of the above letter died in 
1711, seven years after she had given birth to Gabriel 
Manio-ault, who in a lono- and useful life accumulated a 
fortune so large, as enabled him to aid the asylum of his 
persecuted parents with a loan of $220,000, carrying 
on its revolutionary struggle for liberty and independ- 
ence. This was done at an early period of the contest, 
when no man was certain whether it would terminate in 
a revolution or a rebellion.* 

■^ Three of the nine presidents of the old Congress wliich conducted 
the United States through the revohitionary Avar, were descendants 
01 French protestant rel'iigecs, who had eniigralcd to America in con- 



HUGUENOTS IN CAROLINA. 25 

The French settlers in Carolina formed to a certain 
extent a separate community. They were settled, as 
^\e have already stated, on the Santee river. Mr. John 
Lawson, Surveyor General of North Carolina, in a book 
of travels published in London in 1709, quoted by Mr. 
Simms, in his " Life of Marion," thus speaks of the com- 
munity of Carolina Huguenots : 

" There are," says he, " about seventy families seated 
on this river, who live as decently and happily as any 
planters in these southward parts of America. The 
French being a temperate, industrious people, some of 
them bringing very little of effects, yet, by their endea- 
vours and mutual assistance among themselves (which is 
highly to be commended), have outstripped our English, 
who brought with them large fortunes, though (as it 
seems) less endeavour to manage their talent to the best 
advantage. 'Tis admirable to see what time and industry 
will, (with God's blessing) effect," &c. 

" We lay all that night at Mons. Eugee's (Huger,) 
and the next morning set out further, to go the remain- 
der of our voyage by land. At ten o'clock we passed 
over a narrow deep swamp, having left the three Lidian 
men and one woman, that had piloted the canoe from 
Ashley river, having hired a Sewee Indian, a tall, lusty 
fellow, who carried a pack of our clothes, of great weight. 
Notwithstanding his burden, we had much ado to keep 
pace with him. At noon we came up with several French 
plantations. Meeting with several creeks by the way, 

sequence of the revocation of the Edict of Xantz. The persons al- 
luded to were Henry Laurens, of South-Carolina ; John Jay, of New- 
Vurk ; and Ellas Boudiuot, of Nov- Jeri-ey. 



2G LIFE OF GENERAL FEAXCIS MARION. 

tlie French were verj officious in assisting us witli their 
small dories to pass over these waters : whom we met 
coming from their church, being all of them very 
clean and decent in their apparel ; their houses and plan- 
tations suitable in neatness and contrivance. Thej are 
all of the same opinion with the church of Geneva, there 
being no difference among them concerning the free 
method of their Christian faith ; which union hath propa- 
gated a happy and delightful concord in all other mat- 
ters throughout the whole neighborhood ; living amongst 
themselves as one tribe or kindred, every one making it 
his business to be assistant to the wants of his country- 
men, preserving his estate and reputation, with the same 
exactness and concern as he does his own ; all seeming 
to share in the misfortunes, and rejoice at the advance 
and rise of their brethren." 

This happy, and peaceable, and prosperous community 
soon became the object of jealousy to the English set- 
tlers. This circumstance is thus noticed by Dr. Ram- 
say:* 

Another source of controversy between the proprie- 
tors and the people, was the case of the French refugees. 
Many of these, exiled from their own country towards 
the close of the 17th century, had settled in the pro- 
vince ; particularly in Craven county.f They were an 

* History of South Carolina. 

f South Carolina, soon after its first settlement, was divided into 
four counties, Berkeley, Craven, Colleton, and Carteret. Berkeley 
county tilled the space round the capital ; Craven to the northward, 
and Colleton contained Port Royal, and the it^lands in its vicinity, to 
the dibtauce of thirty milco. Carteret lay to the south west. 



rrtEXCII GET POLITICAL RIGHTS. 27 

orderly, industrious, religious people. Several brought 
property with them Avhich enabled them to buy land, 
and settle with greater advantages than many of the 
poorer English emigrants. Yv^hile they were busy in 
clearing and cultivating their lands, the English settlers 
began to revive national antipathies against them, and 
to consider the French as aliens and foreigners, legally 
entitled to none of the privileges and advantages of na- 
tural born subjects. The proprietors took part with the 
refugees and instructed their governor, Philip Ludwell, 
Yvdio in 1692 liad been appointed the successor of Seth 
Sothell, to allow the French settled in Craven county 
the same privileges and liberties with the English colo- 
nists ; but the people carried their jealousy so far that 
at the next election for members to serve in the assem- 
bly, Craven county, in which the French refugees lived, 
was not allowed a single representative. At this period 
the assembly of South Carolina consisted of twenty 
members, all chosen in Charleston. 

This was in 1G92. In 1600, the same historian thus 
records the final settlement of these difficulties between 
the French and English settlers : 

The national antipathies against the French refugees 
in process of time began to abate. In common witli 
others, they had defied the dangers of the desert and 
given ample proofs of their fidelity to the proprietors, 
and their zeal for the success of the colony. They had 
cleared little spots of land for raising the necessaries of 
life, and in some measure surmounted the diflicultles of 
the first state of colonization. At this favorable junc- 
ture the refugees, by the advice of the governor and 



23 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

otlicr friends, petitioned the legislature to be incorpo- 
rated with the freemen of the colony and allowed the 
same privileges and liberties, with those born of English 
parents. Accordingly an act passed in 1696 for mak- 
ing all aliens, then inhabitants, free — for enabling them 
to hold lands, and to ?laim the same as heirs to their 
ancestors, provided they either had petitioned, or should 
within three months petition. Governor Blake for these 
privileges and take the oath of allegiance to King William* 
This same law conferred liberty of conscience on all 
Christians, with the exception of papists. With these 
conditions the refugees, who were all Protestants, joy- 
fully complied. The French and English settlers being 
made equal in rights, became united in interest and af- 
fection, and have ever since lived in peace and harmony. 



MARION'S ANCESTORS. 29 



CHAPTER II. 

Mai'iotvs clesceiit — Tlis orrandfather a Frencli Huguenot — His father 
and family — His {"eeble childhood — He des'ires to become a sailor 
— Opposed by hirf nK)ther — (Joes to sea — The vessel founders at sea 
and he has a narrow escape from death — Returns to farming- — 
Parallelisms in the lives of Washington and Marion — Both ])ass 
much of their lives as planters — Both serve in the Indian and the 
Revolutionary wars — Some characteristics of Marion. 

Among the IIu2:uenots v/ho emio;rated to South Caro- 
lina in 1690, as stated in the last chapter, was Benja- 
min Marion the grandfather of Francis. Weems, in his 
^' Life of Marion,"* states that he brought money, pro- 
bably received from his wife's parents, and from the sale 
of his farm in France ; and that, on his arrival in Caro- 
lina, they went up into the country, and bought a plan- 
tation on Grave Creek, near Charleston. His eldest son, 
Gabriel, married Miss Charlotte Cordes, by whom he 
had six children, Esther, Gabriel, Isaac, Benjamin, Job, 
and Francis. "As to his sister Esther," says Weems, 
^' I have never heard what became of her ; but for his 
four brothers, I am happy to state, that though not 

^ The Life of General Francis Marion, a celebrated Partisan officer 
in the Revolutionary War, against the British and Tories in South 
Carolina and Georgia. By General P. Horry of Marion's Brigade 
and M. L. Weems, formerly Rector of Mount YernoD Parish. 



30 LIFE OF GEXERAL FRANCIS MARIOX. 

formidable as soldiers, tlicj were very amiable as citi- 
zens." 

Francis jMarion v/as born at Winyali near Georgetown, 
South Carolina, in 173:^, the same year which gave 
birth to Yfashington. The early life of Marion by no 
means held forth any remarkable promise of distinction. 
At his birth he was so exceedingly pmiy and diminutive, 
that little expectation was entertained of rearing him to 
manhood, nor did he ever attain the ordinary stature. 
But when he had arrived at the age of twelve years, his 
constitution appears to have undergone a change ; he be- 
came exceedingly fond of active occupations and sports ; 
and he soon acquired tliat vigor, hardihood, and power 
of endurance for which he was so noted in after life. His 
advantages of school instruction are not recorded ; but 
they must have been respectable for the time and the 
country in which he lived.* 

Marion's spirit of enterprise and his fondness for 
active pursuits led him, as the same disposition has 
many other boys, George Washington among the rest, 
to make choice of the seafaring life as a pursuit. 
His mother, like Yfasliington's, endeavored to dissuade 
him from his purpose, but in this she was not so success- 
ful as the mother of the Great Virginian At the ao-e of 
sixteen he shipped on board of a small vessel bound to the 
West Indies. But the voyage was singularly unfortunate. 
The vessel was struck by a whale, a plank was started, 
and the leak occasioned by this circumstance, soon com- 
pelled the crew to abandon the sinking craft and take 

■^ This we know by the style of his correspondence and his recorded 
speeches in public, always brief, terse, and to the purpose. 



I 



ESCAPE FROM SHIPWRECK. 31 

to the jolly boat, in sucli haste that they were not able 
to bring off any provisions or water. In this destitute 
condition, with no food but the flesh of a dog which had 
followed them into the boat, they were tossed about in 
the open sea for six days. Two of their number died. 
The" survivors were finally picked up by a passing 
vessel, and restored to their homes. 

Among the survivors of this disastrous voyage was 
Francis Marion. His sli2;ht and delicate frame had 
already become sufficiently hardened to bear a degree of 
suffering and exposure which had proved fatal to strong 
men. Fortunately for his country, he was effectually 
cured of all predilection for the life of a -mariner. He 
returned contentedly to his former rural pursuits. He 
became an industrious and successful farmer. His father 
died in 1757, Francis remained vfith his mother till 1759, 
when he removed to the Parish of St. John, where he 
settled on the plantation, which continued to be his home 
during the remainder of his life. 

There are several parallelisms in the lives of Marion 
and Washington. We have already noticed one in their 
desire for going to sea. Another presents itself in the 
fact that in the early and forming period of manhood they 
were both devoted to agricultural pursuits. Both were 
successful planters. Washington was a planter before 
serving against the Indians, and he spent fifteen years in 
planting between the close of his service in ' the Old 
French War and the beginning of the Kevolutionary 
War. Marion spent a shorter period as planter before 
his service in the Indian War of South Carolina, and. 
then returned to his farm, and was engaged in agriculture 



32 LIFE or GENERAL FRAXCIS MAEION. 

about tliirteen years before lie engaged in the Revolu- 
tionary contest. We shall see In the course of Marlon's 
life, that there were other points of resemblance ; al- 
though we would by no means insinuate that Marion is 
to be brought into any near comparison with the illustri- 
ous Father of his Country. 

How Marion passed his time in these periods of rural 
life, Ave can only conjecture. One thing we know, how- 
ever, that whatever he did was done earnestly and with 
a will. Ills Huoruenot blood and education, as well ns 
the character v/hich he displayed in after times, give 
assurance that he considered the business of life a serious 
affair ; that he> regarded his talents and opportunities as 
gifts from the Creator, of the use of which he must give 
account hereafter ; that he acted in every relation from 
a solemn sense of duty ; and that in all circumstances 
and situations he was ever alive to the claims of honor 
and christian charity. ^ 

The time was now near when he was to enter the field 
as warrior, and show the metal he was made of, in the 
great theatre of public action. 



Marion's first services. 33 



CHAPTER III. 

jVIarion's first military service in the war with the Cherokees — Origin 
of the war — Horse stealing — Revenge of the Virginians — Attack 
of the Cherokees on the Carolinians — Marion serves in a troop of 
cavalry — The Indians send chiefs to Charleston to make peace — 
Lyttleton detains them and marches into the Indian country — 
Chiefs shut up at Fort Prince George — Conference with Attakulla- 
kulla — Treaty — Small pox in the camp — Cost of Lyttleton's expe- 
dition — Great joy of the Carolinians — Marion has no opportunity 
for distinction in this campaign. 

Marion's first military service was in the war with 
the Cherokees, which broke out in the year 1759. This 
war lasted through three campaigns, and was attended 
with all those circumstances of danger, difficulty, and 
hardship, which were best calculated to fit him for the 
peculiar duties of a partisan leader, in which character 
he was destined to take so signal a part in the more im- 
portant conflict for national independence. 

The war between France and England, which com- 
menced in 1754 or 1755, induced both nations to court 
the friendship of the Indians. The French were assidu- 
ous in connecting: a chain of influence with the abori- 
glnes, from Canada to the mouth of' the Mississippi. 
The British pursued a similar line of policy, but less ex- 
tensive. Governor Glen held a treaty with the Chero- 
3 



34 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

kees in 1755, ostensibly to brighten the chain of friend- 
ship, but really to obtain a cession of their lands and a 
liberty to erect forts on the western frontier, as a bar- 
rier against the French on the south-west. Both were 
granted. 

, In the progress of the war the French were defeated 
in Canada, and compelled to abandon Fort Duquesne. 
After they had retreated from the latter down the Ohio, 
and the Mississippi, they had the address to involve the 
Indians in a serious war with Carolina. By the reduc- 
tion of Fort Duquesne, the scene of action was changed 
from Pennsylvania and Virginia to Carolina; and the 
influence of the French soon appeared among the upper 
tribes of Cherokees. 

An unfortunate quarrel with the Virginians helped to 
forward their designs. In the successful expedition of 
1758, against Fort Duquesne, the Cherokees had sent 
considerable parties of warriors to the assistance of the 
British army. While the savages were returning home 
from that expedition, through the back parts of Virginia, 
many of them having lost their horses took possession 
of such as came in their way. The Virginians, instead 
of asserting their rights in a legal manner, resented the 
injury by force of arms and killed twelve or fourteen of 
these unsuspicious warriors. The Cherokees, with rea- 
son, were highly provoked at such ungrateful usage ; 
and when they came home, gave a highly colored ac- 
count thereof to their nation. They became outrageous. 
Those who had lost friends and relations, resolved upon 
revenge. In vain did the chieftains interpose their autho- 
rity. Nothing could restrain the ferocity of the young 



CHEROKEES COMMENCE WAR. 35 

men. The emissaries of France among them added 
fuel to the flame, by declaring that the English intended 
to kill all the Indian men and make slaves of their wives 
and children. They inflamed their resentments, stimu- 
lated them to bloodshed, and furnished them with arms 
and ammunition to revenge themselves. Parties of young 
warriors took the field, and rushino- down amono; the 
white inhabitants murdered and scalped all who came in 
their way. 

The commanding ofiicer at Fort Prince George dis- 
patched a messenger to Charleston, to inform Governor 
Lyttleton that the Cherokees had commenced war. Or- 
ders were given to the commanders of the militia imme- 
diately to collect their men, and stand in a posture of 
defence. The militia of the country were directed to 
rendezvous at Congarees, where the governor resolved to 
join them and march to the relief of the frontier settle- 
ments. Francis Marion was one of the volunteers who 
joined the governor's army on this occasion. He served 
in a company of cavalry, commanded by his brother. 

No sooner had the Cherokees heard of these warlike 
preparations, than thirty- two of their chiefs set out for 
Charleston to settle all differences. Though they could 
not restrain some of their young men from acts of 
violence, yet the nation in general was inclined to friend- 
ship and peace. As they arrived before the governor 
had set out on the intended expedition, a council was 
called; and the chiefs being sent for. Governor Lyttleton, 
among other things, told them "that he was well ac- 
quainted with all the acts of hostility of which their 
people had been guilty, and likewise those they intended 



36 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

against the English," and enumerated some of them. 
Then he added " that he would soon be in their country, 
where he would let them know his demands and the satis- 
faction he required, which he would certainly take if it 
was refused. As they had come to Charleston to treat 
with him as friends, they should go home in safety and 
not a hair of their heads should be touched ; but as he 
had many warriors in arms, in different parts of the 
jpvoYmce, he could not be answerable for what might 
happen to them unless they marched with his army." 
After this speech was ended, Occonostota, who was dis- 
tinguished by the name of the great warrior of the 
Cherokee nation, began to speak by way of reply ; but 
the governor having determined that nothing should 
prevent his military expedition, declared " he would hear 
no talk in vindication of his nation nor any proposals 
with regard to peace." This highly displeased the In- 
dians. 

In a few days after this conference the governor set 
out for Congarees, where he mustered about fourteen 
hundred men. To this place the Cherokees marched with 
the army and were in appearance contented, but in 
reality burned with fury. When the army moved from 
the Congarees, the chieftains were all made prisoners. 
To prevent their escaping, as two had already done, a 
captain's guard was mounted over them. Being not only 
deprived of their liberty, but compelled to accompany 
an enemy going against their families and friends, they 
no longer concealed the resentment raging in their 
breasts. Sullen looks and gloomy countenances showed 
that they were stung to the heart by such treatment. 



SPEECH OF LYTTLETOX. 37 

Upon the arrival of the army at Fort Prince George, the 
Indians were all shut up in a hut scarcely sufficient for 
the accommodation of six soldiers. 

The army being not only poorly armed and disciplined, 
but also discontented and mutinous ; it was judged dan- 
gerous to proceed farther into the enemy's country. The 
governor sent for Attakullakulla, who was esteemed the 
wisest man of the nation and the most steady friend of 
the English, to meet him at Fort Prince George. This 
summons was promptly obeyed. On the 17th December, 
1759, they held a Congress at which the governor, in a 
long speech, stated to Attakullakulla the injuries done 
by the Cherokees to the white people in violation of ex- 
isting treaties — the power of the English — the w^eakness 
and many defeats of the French, and then concluded as 
follows : 

" These things I have mentioned to show you that the 
great king will not suffer his people to be destroyed with- 
out satisfaction, and to let you know that the people of 
this province are determined to have it. What I say is 
with a merciful intention. If I make war with you, you 
will suffer for your rashness ; your men will be destroyed, 
and your women and children carried into captivity. 
What few necessaries you now have will soon be ex- 
hausted, and you will get no more. But if you give the 
satisfaction I shall ask, trade w^ill be again opened and 
all things go right. I have twice given you a list of the 
murderers. I will now tell you there are twenty-four men 
of your nation whom I demand to be delivered up to me to 
be put to death, or otherwise disposed of as I shall think 
fit. Your people have killed that number of ours and 



38 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

more ; therefore it is the least I will accept of. I shall 
give you till to-morrow to consider of it, and then I shall 
expect your answer. You know best the Indians con- 
cerned. I expect the twenty-four you deliver up, will 
be those who have committed the murders. 

To this long speech Attakullakulla replied in words to 
the following effect : " That he remembered the treaties 
mentioned, as he had a share in making them. He 
owned the kindness of the province of South Carolina, 
but complained much of the bad treatment his country- 
men had received in Virginia ; which, he said, was the 
immediate cause of the present misunderstanding. That 
he had always been the warm friend of the English — 
that he would ever continue such, and would use all the 
influence he had to persuade his countrymen to give the 
governor the satisfaction he demanded ; though he be- 
lieved it neither would nor could be complied with, as 
they had no coercive authority one over another." He 
desired the governor to release some of the head men 
then confined in the fort to assist him, and added, " that 
he was pleased to hear of the success of his brothers the 
English;" but could not help mentioning "that they 
showed more resentment against the Cherokees than 
they did to other nations who had disobliged them. 
That he remembered some years ago several white peo- 
ple belonging to Carolina w^ere killed by the Choctaws, 
for whom no satisfaction had either been demanded or 
given." 

Agreeably to the request of Attakullakulla, the gov- 
ernor released Occonostota, Fiftoe the chief man of 
Keowee town, and the head warrior of Estatoe, who next 



TREATY WITH CHEROKEES. 39 

day delivered up two Indians whom Mr. Lyttleton or- 
dered to be put in irons. After which all the Cherokees 
present, who knew their connections to be weak, in- 
stantly fled ; so that it was impossible to complete the 
number demanded. Attakullakulla, being then convinced 
that peace could not be obtained on the terms demanded 
by the governor, resolved to go home and patiently wait 
the event ; but no sooner was Mr. Lyttleton made ac- 
quainted with his departure, than he dispatched a mes- 
senger after him to bring him back to his camp; and 
immediately on his return began to treat of peace. 

Accordingly a treaty was drawn up and signed by the 
governor, by Attakullakulla, another chief, and four of 
the confined warriors, who, together with a few others, 
thereupon obtained their liberty. By one article of this 
treaty it was agreed, "that twenty-six chieftains of the 
Cherokees should be confined in the fort as hostages, 
until the same number of Indians guilty of murder were 
delivered up to the commander-in-chief of the province." 
This was said to be done with their own consent ; but as 
they were prisoners they could have no free choice. If 
they must remain confined, it was a matter of little mo- 
ment under what denomination they were kept. One 
more Indian was delivered up, for whom one of the hos- 
tages was released. The three Indians, given up by 
their companions, were carried to Charleston where 
they died in confinement. 

After having concluded this treaty with the Cherokees, 
the governor returned to Charleston. Perhaps the In- 
dians who put their mark to these articles of agreement 
did not understand them, or conceived themselves to be 



40 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

SO far under restraint as not to be free agents in the 
transaction, and therefore not bound by it. Whether 
either of these or deliberate perfidy was the case, cannot 
be ascertained ; but it is certain that few or none of the 
nation afterwards paid the smallest regard to it. The 
treacherous act of confining their chiefs, against whom 
no personal charge could be made, and who had travelled 
several hundred miles to obtain peace, was strongly im- 
pressed on their minds. Instead of permitting them to 
return home "without hurting a hair of their heads," as 
the governor promised in Charleston, they were con- 
fined in a miserable hut. It was said they were kept only 
as hostages until the number of criminals demanded was 
completed by their nation. It was also satid to be done 
by the consent of the nation, as six of its chiefs had 
signed the articles of peace ; but when the relative situ- 
ation of the parties, and all circumstances are considered, 
nothing less could have been expected than that these 
wild and independent warriors would violate the arti- 
cles they had signed and retaliate for the confinement 
of their chiefs. 

Scarcely had Governor Lyttleton concluded the treaty 
of Fort Prince George when the small-pox, which was 
raging in an adjacent Indian town, broke out in his 
camp. As few of the army had gone through that dis- 
temper, the men were struck with terror and in great 
haste returned to the settlements ; cautiously avoiding 
all intercourse with one another and sufferins: much from 
hunger and fatigue by the way. The governor followed 
them, and arrived in Charleston on January 8th, 1760. 
This expedition cost the province £25,000 sterling. 



THE WAR NOT YET OVER. 41 

Though not a drop of blood had been spilt during the 
campaign, yet as articles of peace were signed, the gov- 
ernor as commander-in-chief was received like a con- 
queror Avith the greatest demonstrations of joy.* 

In this, Marion's first campaign, there was no fighting 
with the Indians, and as he appears to have held no of- 
fice, he had, of course, no opportunity for any kind of 
distinction. But the war was not yet over, and be- 
fore its conclusion we shall hear of him again. 

* Ramsay's History of South Carolina. 



42 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Second campaign against the Cherokees — Surprise and death of Cap- 
tain Cotymore — Murder of the Indian hostages — Terrible revenge 
of the Indians on the frontier inhabitants — General Amherst sends 
a force of regulars to Carolina under Colonel Montgomery — Gov- 
ernor Bull succeeds Lyttleton — Arrival of Montgomery — The mili- 
tia rendezvous at Congarees — Marion with the army — Capture of 
Indian towns — Difficult march — Action near Etchoe — Return of 
Montgomery — Siege and surrender of Fort Loudon^— Noble conduct 
of Attakullakulla to Captain Stuart. 

The rejoicings on account of the peace were scarcely 
over, when news arrived that fresh hostilities had been 
committed, and that the Cherokees had killed fourteen 
^ men within a mile of Fort Prince George. The Indians 
had contracted an invincible antipathy to Captain Coty- 
more, the officer whom Governor Lyttleton had left 
commander of that fort. The treatment they had re- 
ceived at Charleston, but especially the imprisonment 
of their chiefs, converted their former desire of peace 
into the bitterest rage for war. Occonostota, a chief- 
tain of great influence, became an implacable enemy to 
Carolina, and determined to repay treachery with 
treachery. With a strong party of Cherokees he sur- 
rounded Fort Prince George, and compelled the garrison 
to keep within their works ; but finding that no impression 



MURDER OF INDIAN HOSTAGES. 43 

could be made on the fort, lie contrived the following 
stratagem for the relief of his countrymen confined in 
it. 

He placed a party of savages in a dark thicket by the 
river side an^ then sent an Indian woman, whom he knew 
to be always welcome at the fort, to inform the com- 
mander that he had something of consequence to com- 
municate and would be glad to speak with him at the 
river side. Captain Cotymore imprudently consented, 
and without any suspicions of danger walked down tow- 
ards the river accompanied by Lieutenants Bell and 
Foster. Occonostota appearing on the opposite side, 
told him he was going to Charleston to procure a re- 
lease of the prisoners, and would be glad of a white man 
to accompany him as a safeguard. To cover his dark 
design he had a bridle in his hand, and added he would 
go and hunt for a horse. Cotymore replied that he 
should have a guard, and wished he might find a horse 
as the journey was very long. Upon which, the Indian 
turning about, swung the bridle thrice round his head as 
a signal to the savages placed in ambush, who instantly 
fired on the ofiicers, shot the captain dead, and wounded 
his two companions. In consequence of which, orders 
were given to put the hostages in irons to prevent any 
further danger from them. When the soldiers were 
attempting to execute these orders, the Indians stabbed 
one and wounded two more of them ; upon which the 
garrison fell on the unfortunate hostages, and butchered 
all of them in a manner too shocking to relate. 

There were few men in the Cherokee nation that did 
not lose a friend or a relation by this massacre, and 



44 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

therefore with one voice all immediately declared for 
war. The leaders in every town seized the hatchet, tell- 
ing their followers " that the spirits of their murdered 
brothers were hovering around them and calling out for 
vengeance on their enemies." From the different towns 
large parties of warriors took the field, painted in the 
most formidable manner and arrayed with their instru- 
ments of death. Burning with impatience to imbrue their 
hands in the blood of their enemies, they rushed down 
amono; innocent and defenceless families on the frontiers 
of Carolina ; where men, women and children, without 
distinction, fell a sacrifice to their merciless fury. Such 
as fled to the woods and escaped the scalping knife, per- 
ished with hunger ; and those whom they made prisoners 
were carried into the wilderness where they suffered in- 
expressible hardships. Every day brought fresh ac- 
counts of their ravages and murders. But while the 
back settlers impatiently looked to their governor for 
relief, the small pox raged to such a degree on the sea 
coast, that few of the militia could be prevailed on to 
leave their distressed families. In this extremity an 
express was sent to General Amherst the commander-in- 
chief of the British forces in America, acquainting him 
with the deplorable situation of the province and implor- 
ing his assistance. Accordingly a body of fine picked 
troops, consisting of six companies of the royal Scots 
regiment, and six companies of the seventy-second, in 
which were included the grenadiers and light infantry 
companies of several regiments, was put under the com- 
mand of Colonel Montgomery and ordered immediately 
to Carolina. 



MONTGOMERY LANDS IN CAROLINA. 45 

In the mean time William Henry Lyttleton being ap- 
pointed governor of Jamaica, the charge of the province 
devolved on William Bull. Application was made to the 
neighbouring provinces of North-Carolina and Virginia 
for relief. Seven troops of rangers were raised to pro- 
tect the frontiers, and prevent the savages from penetrat- 
ing further down among the settlements, and to co-ope- 
rate with the regulars for carrying offensive operations 
into the Indian country. 

Before the end of April, 1760, Colonel Montgomery 
landed in Carolina and encamped at Monk's corner. 
Great was the joy of the province upon the arrival of 
this gallant officer ; but as the conquest of Canada was 
the grand object of that year's campaign in America, 
he had orders to strike a sudden blow for the relief of 
Carolina and instantly return to head quarters at Al- 
bany. Nothing was omitted that was judged necessary 
to forward the expedition. Several gentlemen of for- 
tune, excited by a laudable zeal for the safety of their 
country, formed themselves into a company of volun- 
teers, and joined the army. The whole force of the pro- 
vince was collected and ordered to rendezvous at Con- 
garees. 

Tradition informs us that Marion volunteered and 
served in this campaign, but Mr. Simms, the most intel- 
ligent of his biographers, says that the records are si- 
lent on the subject. Many of the records of South Ca- 
rolina, however, were destroyed in the revolutionary war, 
and it seems but fair to accept the traditionary accounts 
of his service in this second campaign. 

A few weeks after his arrival Colonel Montgomery 



46 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

marched to the Congarees, where he was joined by the 
militia of the province, and immediately set out for the 
Cherokee country. Having little time allowed him, his 
march was uncommonly expeditious. After reaching a 
place called Twelve Mile river, he proceeded with a party 
of his men in the night to surprise Estatoe, an Indian 
town, about twenty miles from his camp. On his way 
there was another town called little Keowee. He or- 
dered the light infantry to surround the latter, and to 
put every adult male Indian in it, to the sword. He 
then proceeded to Estatoe which he found nearly aban- 
doned. This town, which consisted of at least two hundred 
houses, and was well provided with corn, hogs, poultry, 
and ammunition, he reduced to ashes. Sugar-town, and 
and every other settlement in the lower nation, shared 
the same fate. The surprise to every one of them was 
nearly equal, and so sudden and unexpected, that the 
savages could scarcely save themselves, far less any lit- 
tle property they had. In these lower towns about sixty 
Indians were killed and forty made prisoners, and the 
rest driven to seek for shelter among the mountains. 
Having finished his business among these lower settle- 
ments, with the small loss of three or four men, he 
marched to the relief of Fort Prince George. 

Edmund Atkin, agent for Indian aifairs, dispatched 
two Indian chiefs to the middle settlements to inform 
the Gherokees that by suing for peace they might obtain 
it as the former friends and allies of Britain. Colonel 
Montgomery, finding that the savages were not yet dis- 
posed to listen to any terms of accommodation, deter- 
mined to carry the chastisement a little further. Dis- 



DEATH OF MORISON. 47 

mal was the wilderness into which he entered, and many 
were the hardships and dangers he had to encounter 
from passing through dark thickets, rugged paths, and 
narrow defiles, in which a small body of men properly 
posted might harass the bravest army. He also had 
numberless difiiculties to surmount ; particularly from 
rivers fordable only at one place, and overlooked by high 
banks on each side, where an enemy might attack with 
advantage, and retreat with safety. When he had ad- 
vanced within five miles of Etchoe, the nearest town in 
the middle settlements, he found a low valley covered so 
thick with bushes that the soldiers could scarcely see 
three yards before them. 

Through this natural ambuscade it was necessary for 
the army to march, though the nature of the place would 
not admit any number of men to act together. Captain 
Morison, who commanded a company of rangers well ac- 
quainted with the woods, was therefore ordered to ad- 
vance and scour this thicket. He had scarcely entered 
it when a number of savages sprung from their place of 
concealment, killed the captain and wounded several of 
his party. Upon which the light infantry and grena- 
diers advanced and charged the invisible enemy. A 
heavy fire then began on both sides, and for some time 
, the soldiers could only discover the places where the sa- 
vages were hid by the report of their guns. The woods 
resounded with Indian war whoops and horrible yell- 
ings. 

During the action, which lasted above an hour, Colo- 
nel Montgomery had twenty men killed and seventy-six 
A\ounded. Vriiat number the enemy lost is uncertain, 



48 LIFE OF GENEKAL FRANCIS MARION. 

as it is a custom among them to carry their dead off the 
field. Upon viewing the ground, all were astonished to 
see with what judgment they had chosen it. Scarcely 
could the most experienced officer have fixed upon a spot 
more advantageous for attacking an enemy. 

This action terminated much in favor of the British 
army, but reduced it to such a situation as made it very 
imprudent to penetrate further into the woods. Orders 
were therefore given for a retreat which was made with 
great regularity. A large train of wounded men was 
brought in safety above sixty miles through a hazardous 
country. Never did men endure greater hardships, with 
fewer complaints, than this little army. Colonel Mont- 
gomery returned to the settlements, and in August em- 
barked for New York agreeably to his orders ; but left 
four companies for covering the frontiers. 

In the meantime the distant garrison of Fort Loudon, 
consisting of two hundred men, was reduced to the dread- 
ful alternative of perishing by hunger or submitting to 
the mercy of the enraged Cherokees. The governor hav- 
ing information that the Virginians had undertaken to 
relieve it, waited to hear the news of their having done 
so. But so remote was the fort from every settlement, 
and so difficult was it to march an army through the 
barren wilderness where the various thickets were lined 
with enemies ; and to carry at the same time sufficient 
supplies along with them, that the Virginians had relin- 
quished all thoughts of even making the attempt. 

Provisions being entirely exhausted at Fort Loudon, 
the garrison was reduced to the most deplorable situa- 
tion. For a whole month they had no other subsistence, 



SURRENDER OF TORT LOUDON. 49 

but the flesh of lean horses and dogs, and a small supply 
of Indian beans which some friendly Cherokee women 
procured for them by stealth. In this extremity the 
commander called a council of war to consider what was 
proper to be done. The officers were all of opinion that 
it w^as impossible to hold out any longer, and therefore 
agreed to surrender the fort to the Cherokees on the 
best terms that could be obtained. 

For this purpose Captain Stuart procured leave to go 
to Chot^, one of the principal towns in the neighbor- 
hood, where he obtained the following terms of capitula- 
tion which were signed by the commanding officer and 
two of the Cherokee chiefs : " That the garrison of w 
Fort Loudon march out with their arms and drums, each 
soldier having as much powder and ball as their officer 
shall think necessary for their march, and all the bag- 
gage they may choose to carry. That the garrison be 
permitted to march to Virginia or Fort Prince George, 
and that a number of Indians be appointed to escort 
them and hunt for provisions during the march. That 
such soldiers as are lame or sick be received into the 
Indian towns, and kindly used until they recover, and 
then be allowed to return to Fort Prince George. That 
the Indians provide for the garrison as many horses as 
they conveniently can for their march, agreeing with the 
officers and soldiers for payment. That the fort, great 
guns, powder, ball, and spare arms, be delivered to the 
Indians without fraud or further delay on the day ap- 
pointed for the march of the troops." 

Agreeably to these terms the garrison delivered up 
the fort, and marched out with their arms, accompanied 
4 



50 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

by Occonostota the prince of Chote, and several other 
Indians ; and that day went fifteen miles on their way to 
Fort Prince George. At night they encamped on a 
plain about two miles from Taliquo, an Indian town, when 
all their attendants left them. 

During the night they remained unmolested ; but next 
morning, about break of day a soldier, from an outpost, 
informed them that he saw a number of Indians, armed 
and painted in the most dreadful manner, creeping among 
the bushes and advancing to surround them. Scarcely 
had the officer time to order his men to stand to their 
arms, when the savages poured in upon them a heavy 
fire from different quarters accompanied with the most 
hideous yellings. Captain Paul Demere, with three 
other officers, and about twenty-six private men, fell at 
the first onset. Some fled into the woods, and were af- 
terwards taken prisoners and confined. Captain Stuart 
and those that remained were seized, pinioned, and brought 
back to Fort Loudon. 

As soon as Attakullakulla heard that his friend Stuart 
had escaped, he hastened to the fort and purchased him 
from the Indian that took him ; giving him his rifle, 
clothes, and all he could command by way of ransom. 
He then took possession of Captain Demere's house, 
where he kept his prisoner as one of his family and freely 
shared with him the little provisions his table afforded, 
until a fair opportunity should offer for rescuing him 
from their hands ; but the soldiers were kept in a miser- 
able state of captivity for some time, and then redeemed 
by the province at a great expense. 

While these prisoners were confined at Fort Loudon, 'J 



couin^cil called at chot^. 51 

Occonostota formed a design of attacking Fort Prince 
George ; and for this purpose dispatched a messenger 
to the settlements in the valley, requesting all the war- 
riors there to join him at Stickoey Old Town. By acci- 
dent, a discovery was made of ten bags of powder, and 
of ball in proportion, which the officers had secretly 
buried in the fort to prevent their falling into the enemy's 
hands. This discovery had nearly proved fatal to Cap- 
tain Stuart, and would certainly have cost him his life, 
if the interpreter had not assured the enemy that these 
warlike stores had been concealed without his knowledge 
or consent. The Indians having now abundance of am- 
munition for the siege, a council was called at Chote; to 
which the captain was brought and put in mind of the 
obligations he lay un'der to them for sparing his life. 
They also stated to him, that as they had resolved to 
carry six cannon and two cohorns with them against 
Fort Prince George, to be managed by men under his 
command, he must go and write such letters to the com- 
mandant as they should dictate to him. They informed 
him at the same time that if that officer should refuse to 
surrender, they were determined to burn the prisoners 
one after another before his face, and try if he could 
hold out while he saw his friends expiring in the flames. 
Captain Stuart was much alarmed at his situation, and 
from that moment resolved to make his escape or perish 
in the attempt. He privately communicated his design 
to Attakullakulla, and told him how uneasy he was at 
the thoughts of being compelled to bear arms against his 
countrymen. The old warrior taking him by the hand, 
told him he was his friend. That he had already given 



52 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

one proof of his regard, and intended soon to give an- 
other. Strong and uncultivated minds often carry their 
friendship, as well as their enmity, to an astonishing 
pitch. Among savages, family friendship is a national 
virtue ; and they not unfrequently surpass civilized men 
in the practice of its most self-denying, and noblest 
duties. 

Attakullakulla claimed Captain Stuart as his prisoner, 
and had resolved to deliver him from danger. Accord- 
ingly he gave out among his countrymen, that he intended 
to go a hunting for a few days and carry his prisoner 
along with him to eat venison. Having settled all mat- 
ters they set out on their journey, accompanied by the 
warrior's wife, his brother, and two soldiers. For pro- 
visions they depended on what they might kill by the 
way. The distance to the frontier settlements was great, 
and the utmost expedition necessary to prevent any sur- 
prise from Indians pursuing them. They travelled nine 
days and nights through a dreary wilderness, shaping 
their course for Virginia, by the light and guidance of 
the heavenly bodies. On the tenth they arrived at the 
banks of Holstein river ; where they fortunately fell in 
with a party of three hundred men, sent out by Colonel 
Bird for the relief of such soldiers as might make their 
escape that way from Fort Loudon. 



HOSTILE STATE OF PARTIES. 63 



CHAPTER y. 

Renewal of hostilities by the Cherokees — Expedition of Colonel Grant 
— Marion serves in the regiment of provincial volunteers a Lieu- 
tenant under Captain William Moultrie — Advance to the Cherokee 
country — Marion leads the forlorn hope in the battle of Etchoe — 
Narrow escape with his life — The Cherokees subdued — Marion's re- 
marks on the treatment of the Indians by the whites. 

It might now have been expected that the vindictive 
sph'it of the savages would be satisfied, and that thej 
would be disposed to listen to terms of accommodation. 
But this was not the c^se. Thej intended then- trea- 
cherous conduct at Fort Loudon should serve as a satis- 
faction for the harsh treatment their relations had met 
with at Fort Prince George. Dearly had the province 
paid for the imprisonment and massacre of the Indian 
chiefs at that place. Sorely had the Cherokees suffered, 
in retaliation, for the murders they had committed to 
satisfy their vengeance for that imprisonment and the 
massacre of their chiefs. Their lower towns had all 
been destroyed by Colonel Montgomery. The warriors 
in the middle settlements had lost many friends and re- 
lations. Several Frenchmen had crept in among the 
upper towns, and helped to foment their ill humor against 
Carolina. Lewis Latinac, a French ofiicer, persuaded 
the Indians that the English had nothing less in view 



54 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

than to exterminate them from the face of the earth ; and 
furnishing them with arms and ammunition, urged them 
to war. At a -great meeting of the nation he pulled out 
his hatchet, and striking it into a log of wood called out, 
" Who is the man that will take this up for the king of 
Prance ?" Salon^ the young warrior of Estatoe in- 
stantly laid hold of it, and cried out, " I am for war. 
The spirits of our brothers who have been slain, still call 
upon us to avenge their death. He is no better than a 
woman that refuses to follow me." Many others seized 
the tomahawk and burned with impatience for the field. 

Lieutenant Governor Bull, who well knew how little 
Indians were to be trusted, kept the royal Scots and 
militia on the frontiers in a posture of defence; and made 
application a second time to General Amherst for assis- 
tance. Canada being now reduced, the commander-in- 
chief could the more easily spare a force adequate to the 
purpose intended. Lieutenant Colonel James Grant, 
with a regiment from England and two companies of 
light infantry from New York, received orders to em- 
bark for Carolina. Early in the year 1761 he landed 
at Charleston, where he took up his winter quarters until 
the proper season should approach for taking the field. 

In this campaign, the province exerted itself to the 
utmost. A provincial regiment was raised, and the com- 
mand of it given to Colonel Middleton.* 

* The other field officers were Henry Laurens Lieutenant Colonel, 
John Moultrie Major. William Moultrie, Francis Marion, Isaac Hu- 
ger, Andrew Pickens, Owen Roberts, Adam M' Donald, James M'- 
Donald, and William Mason, served in this expedition and were there 
trained to further and greater services in the cause of their country. 



GRANT ENTERS CHEROKEE COUNTRY. 55 

This reo-iment numbered twelve hundred men. Francis 
Marion was attached to it serving as lieutenant in the 
company of which William Moultrie, afterwards the dis- 
tinguished General Moultrie, was captain. The service 
was precisely of that kind which was best suited to fit 
Clarion for his future arduous duties as a partisan com- 
mander. 

Presents were provided for the Indian allies, and se- 
veral of the Chickesaws and Catawbas engaged to co- 
operate with the white people against the Cherokees. 
All possible preparations were quickly made for supply- 
ing the army with every thing necessary for the expedi- 
tion. Great had been the expense which this quarrel 
with the Cherokees had already occasioned. The Caro- 
linians now flattered themselves that, by one resolute 
exertion, they would free the country from the calamities 
of war. 

As soon as the Highlanders were in a condition to 
take the field. Colonel Grant set out for the Cherokee 
territories. After being joined by the provincial regi- 
ment and Indian allies, he mustered about 2600 men. 
On the 27th of May, 1761, he arrived at Fort Prince 
George ; and on the 7th of June began his march from 
it, carrying with him provisions for thirty days. A party 
of ninety Indians and thirty woodsmen, painted like 
Indians, under the command of Captain Quintine Ken- 

Tbey all served in the Revolutionary war, and in the course of it, the 
first four were promoted to the rankof general officers. Bellamy Craw- 
ford, John Hug-er, Joseph Lloyd, John Lloyd, and Thomas Savage, 
also served in this expedition ; and afterwards in civil departments, in 
and after the Revolution. — Ramsav's Hid. S. CarGliiia. 



56 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

nedy, had orders to advance in front and scour the woods. 
When near to Etchoe, the place where Colonel Mont- 
gomery was attacked the year before, the Indian allies 
in front observed a large body of Cherokees posted upon 
a hill on the right flank of the army. An alarm was 
given. Immediately the savages rushing down began to 
fire on the advanced guard, which being supported re- 
pulsed them ; but they recovered their heights. 

Under these heights lay the line of march which it was 
necessary for the army to pursue in their advance ; and 
the men would thus be exposed to a murderous fire from 
the enemy, concealed by the rocks and trees on each 
side, which rendered this pass of Etchoe, the most dif- 
ficult and dangerous defile in the whole Indian country. 
It was their Thermopylae. It therefore became a matter 
of imperative necessity to dislodge them from this post 
before the army could proceed. 

For this important, but exceedingly dangerous service, 
which could only have been entrusted to an officer of 
known ability and undoubted courage, Marion had the 
honor to be detailed at the head of a forlorn hope of 
thirty men. His conduct in the affair is thus described 
by Weems : 

At the head of his command, he advanced up the hill 
and entered the defile, every part of which was full of 
danger. Hardly were they within the gorge, before a 
terrible war-whoop was heard, and a sheet of fire from 
savage rifles illumined the forest. The discharge was 
most deadly. Twenty-one men fell to the ground ; but 
Marion was unhurt. The rapid advance of the next de- 
tachment saved the survivors, who fell back and united 



DESTRUCTION OF ETCHOEE. 57 

with tlieir companions. The battle now became gene- 
ral ; the regulars remained in order and poured continu- 
ous volleys of musketry into the wood ; the provincials 
resorted to their rifles, and with unerring aim, brought 
down the Indians as they appeared on each side of the 
pass. The contest was close and bloody ; the regulars 
at length resorting to the bayonet and driving the 
savages before them. From eight o'clock until two, the 
battle continued ; but the whites achieved a signal vic- 
tory. One hundred and three natives were slain ere 
they yielded the ground, and left a free passage to Grant 
and his army. 

The Cherokee town of Etchoee was immediately re- 
duced to ashes, and the whites then proceeded to burn 
their wigwams, and lay waste their country. The fields, 
in which the corn was already tasselled and ripening for 
harvest, were overrun and utterly ruined. Severity may 
have been necessary in order to break the spirit of the 
savages ; but we cannot regard such devastation without 
profound sorrow. On this point Marion presents him- 
self to us in an interesting light, and his own words shall 
be used to prove that to the courage and the firmness of 
the soldier, he united the tender feelings of a true philau' 
thropist : — "I saw," he says, "everywhere around, the 
footsteps of the little Indian children where they had 
lately played under the shade of this rustling corn. No 
doubt they had often looked up with joy to the swelling 
shocks, and gladdened when they thought of their abund- 
ant cakes for the coming winter. When we are gone, 
thought I, they will return, and peeping through the 
weeds with tearfid eyes, will mark the ghastly ruin 



58 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

poured over their homes and happy fields, where they 
had so often played. ^ Who did this ?' they "will ask 
their mothers ; ' The white people did it,' the mothers 
reply; 'the Christians.'"* 

After this war of devastation, the army returned and 
was disbanded. They had encountered severe toil and 
bloody conflict ; but their object was accomplished. The 
Cherokees were effectually subdued, and even in the sub- 
sequent war with England they gave the Americans but 
little annoyance. Marion left his regiment and re- 
turned to the repose of rural life. 

* Marion's letter in Weems, 25 ; Simms's Marion, 52. 



MARION A FARMER. 69 



CHAPTER VI. 

Marion and Washington follow farming as a pursuit for several years 
— Washington's political course — South Carolina lakes a promi- 
nent part in the Eevolution — Organizes a Provincial Congress — 
Marion a Member — Acts of that Congress— Arrival of Lord Wil- 
liam Campbell — Activity of the members of Congress — Colonel 
]Moultrie — His account of the acts of the patriots — News of the 
Battle of Lexington — Seizure of arms, gunpowder, and of the royal 
mail. 

At the close of the Cherokee war, Marion returned, 
as we have seen, to his plantation at St. Johns, and re- 
sumed the quiet life of a farmer. In the cultivation of 
his land, and in the usual country sports of hunting, 
shooting, and fishing, he passed his time for the next 
fourteen years, (1761 — 1775). Precisely in the same 
pursuits ^Yashington was engaged at the same time ; 
but as Virginia, with Massachusetts, took a leading part 
in the political dispute which led to the Revolution, 
Washington, during this period, was more actively en- 
gaged in politics than Marion. During the whole of 
this period, the illustrious Virginian was a member of 
the House of Delegates of his native State, and by his 
voice, his vote, and his pen, strenuously advocated the 
rights of the colonists, which had been invaded by the 
oppressive acts of the British ministry and parliament. ^ 



60 LIFE OF GENERAL FRAXCIS MARION. 

South Carolina was not backward in resisting the ar- 
bitrary acts of the mother country. "When the Bosto- 
nians threw the East India Company's tea into their 
harbor, the Charleston men destroyed the obnoxious ar- 
ticle in a less summary but not less effectual manner. 
South Carolina sent delegates to the first Continental 
Congress in 1774 ; and in the succeeding year, organized 
a provincial congress which adopted the Bill of Rights, 
and at once placed herself in the front rank of the 
resisting colonists. 

Of this memorable provincial congress, Francis Marion 
was elected a member, from St. John's, Berkley county. 
His colleagues were his brother. Job Marion, James Ra- 
ven ell, Daniel Ravenell, John Frierson, Gabriel Gignilliat. 
This congress assembled on the 11th of January, 1775, at 
Charleston, then the residence of the royal Lieutenant 
Governor William Bull. Their acts were all of a bold 
and decisive character. Besides adopting the Bill of 
Rights as declared by the Continental Congress, they 
adopted the Act of Association recommended by the 
same body, by which the subscribers bound themselves 
to prevent the importation of British goods, and to hold 
no intercourse with colonies or provinces not acceding to 
the terms of the Association. In imitation of the more 
northern colonies this congress established a complete 
system of committees of safety and correspondence, 
passed resolves for relieving the Bostonians in the distress 
occasioned by the Boston Port Bill, and fully approved 
their conduct in resisting the British government. 

They also sent a bold remonstrance to Lieutenant 
Governor Bull, citing the oppressive acts of the British 



LORD WILLIAM CAMPBELL. 61 

government, and requesting him to summon the General 
Assembly of the Province. In his answer the royal 
functionary, of course, refused to recognize their autho- 
rity, and defined his position. 

Without paying any further attention to this repre- 
sentative of the royal authority, the congress proceeded 
to the decisive step of recommending to the people a 
complete system of military organization throughout the 
province. 

Bull was succeeded by a new governor. Lord William 
Campbell, who was received with great courtesy, and 
the usual demonstrations of loyalty to the king's imme- 
diate representative. At this period it was the fashion 
of the patriots to profess perfect loyalty to the king, and 
to charge all the grievances, of which they complained, 
on the mmistr I/. Washington, in his letters to Congress 
during the siege of Boston, calls the enemy, the ministe- 
rial anny. This style was maintained, and hopes were 
entertained of a reconciliation until the Declaration of 
Independence. These hopes were expressed by all par- 
ties equally, but the most ardent leaders, such as the 
Adamses, Franklin, Patrick Henry, and others, undoubt- 
edly foresaw the end from the outset, and many of them 
were fully determined that there should be no reconcilia- 
tion. 

Lord William Campbell appears to have been a mild 
and courteous gentleman, thoroughly ignorant of Ameri- 
can affairs, and desirous of peace ; and he probably consi- 
dered the professions of the people who welcomed his 
arrival as an earnest of attachment to the mother coun- 
try ; but he was destined to be speedily undeceived. 



•»* 



G2 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

Among the members of the provincial congress were 
some of the most active and determined patriots in the 
province, and they by no means confined themselves to 
their legislative duties ; but entered with lively zeal into 
the execution of the acts which they had passed. After 
transacting their business as legislators, they adjourned 
to meet again on the 20th of June, 1775. 

Among the members of this congress was William 
Moultrie, who had been captain of the company, in which 
Marion served as lieutenant, in the third campaign 
against the Cherokees. Moultrie had now been advanced 
to the rank of colonel. In his Memoirs of the " Ameri- 
can Revolution," he gives the following graphic account 
of what passed in South Carolina after the adjournment 
of the Congress : 

Agreeably to a recommendation of the provincial 
congress, the militia were forming themselves into volun- 
teer uniform companies ; drums beating, fifes playing ; 
squads of men exercising on the outskirts of the town ; a 
military spirit pervaded the whole country ; and Charles- 
ton had the appearance of a garrison town. Every thing 
wore the face of war ; though not one of us had the least 
idea of its approach ; and more especially of its being so 
near to us, for weVere anxiously looking forward to a 
reconciliation ; when, on the 19th day of April, war was 
dclared against America, by the British troops firing 
upon the inhabitants at Lexington ; an account of which 
flew over the whole continent ; and now the hopes of a 
reconciliation were at an end ; and recourse to arms was 
the only and last resort. 

In this situation were we when the battle of Lexing- 



ARMS AND AMMUNITION TAKEN. 63 

ton was fought, without arms or ammunition : some there 
were in the King's stores, but we could not get them 
without committing some violent act. A few gentlemen 
went to Captain Cochran (the King's store-keeper) and 
demanded the keys of him : he said '' He could not give 
them up, neither could he hinder them from breaking 
open the doors;" this hint was enough; there was no 
time for hesitation ; and that night a number of gentle- 
men went and broke open the doors, and carried away 
to their own keeping, 1200 good stand of arms. Lieu- 
tenant Governor Bull offered a reward of one hundred 
pounds sterling to any person who would discover the 
persons concerned in the business ; but to no purpose. 

We had now got the arms, but no ammunition ; the 
next thing to be done, was the breaking open the maga- 
zines ; as we were fairly entered into the business we 
could not step back, and the next day we broke open the 
magazines, and found in that at Hobea, 1700 lb. ; at the 
Ship-yard, 600 lb. ; some little at Fort Charlotte, in the 
back country, and in private stores, the whole making 
about 3000 lb. of powder, which was all we had to begin 
our great Revolution. On the same day the battle of 
Lexington was fought, a packet arrived at Charleston 
from England : the public letters were taken out by the 
secret committee, the particulars I have from Mr. Corbet,"^ 
as follows : 

" I was a member of the secret committee of the State ; 
and some time in 1775, a packet arrived from England 
(it was about the time that disputes ran high with Lord 
William Campbell, the then Governor, and it was re- 

* A member of the Provincial Cocffress. 



64 LIFE OF GENEHAL FRAXCIS MARION. 

solved bj that committee to get possession of the mail, 
that was expected in that packet ; and for that purpose 
the member who should first know of the packet's coming 
in, should give notice to the others, and be ready at the 
Post-Office, to get possession of the mail ; as I lived at 
the south end of the Bay, I was the first member who 
knew of her coming, and immediately gave notice thereof 
to such as I could first find in time to intercept the mail. 
On its arrival, William Henry Drayton, and John N^euf- 
ville, they two and myself, immediately went to the 
Office, kept then by Stevens, and demanded the mail ; he 
peremptorily refused it, and we as peremptorily de- 
manded it, declaring that we would take it by force if 
not delivered quickly, having authority for that purpose ; 
he said we might do as we pleased, but that he should 
not deliver it : we then took possession of it, (for which 
he entered a regular protest against us,) we carried it to 
the State-house, and summoned the rest of the Com- 
mittee. When the mail was opened, it contained (besides 
private letters) dispatches to Governor Dunmore, of 
Virginia, Governor Martin, of North Carolina, Governor 
Campbell, of South Carolina, Governor Wright of Geor- 
gia, and Governor Tonyne, of Augustine, (the private 
letters were all returned to the Post-Office unopened,) the 
others were opened, and read, and found to contain the 
determination of England to coerce America ; and direct- 
ing the respective Governors to prepare such provincial 
forces as they could, to co-operate when they should 
come. These dispatches were thought of so much conse- 
quence, as to be sent by express to Congress ; and I have 
understood that it was the first certain accounts of the 



COUNTERFEIT LETTER TO GAGE. 65 

determination of the councils of England to subjugate 
the colonies by force ; and the effect was that congress 
resolved to raise an army, and prepare seriously for de- 
fence. 

Yours, &c. Thomas Corbet." 

About this time a letter from Governor Wright to 
General Gage, going to the northward, was intercepted 
by the secret committee, and opened ; in it was found a 
request to General Gage to send a detachment of his 
Majesty's forces to awe the people of Georgia ; the secret 
committee took out his letter, and put another in the 
cover, (with his name counterfeited,) in which they men- 
tion to General Gage, " that he had wrote for troops to 
awe the people, but that now there was no occasion for 
his sending them, that the people were again come to 
some order:" thus were the Americans obliged to take 
great strides to defeat the purposes of the British Gov- 
ernment. 

The above extract from Moultrie's Memoirs, gives a 
glimpse of the real spirit of the times. The Charleston 
men of that period were, verily, men of action. 



6Q LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 



/ CHAPTER VII. 

Meeting of the Provincial Congress of South Carolina — State of af- 
fairs — The Congress raises an army — Obtains powder — Military 
ardor of leading citizens — Officers of the army chosen by ballot — 
The Rangers — Distinguished men among the officers — Colonel 
Moultrie in command of the second regiment — Marion and Peter 
Horry captains in the same regiment — Their complete success in re- 
cruiting men for their companies. 

On receiving news of the battle of Lexington, which 
took place on the 19th of April 1775, the general com- 
mittee of safety of South Carolina immediately sum- 
moned the provincial congress to meet on the first day 
of June. 

'* At this summons," says Moultrie,* "the people were 
greatly alarmed, and their minds so much agitated, they 
were anxiously waiting for the day of the meeting that 
they might consult with their countrymen, on what was 
best to be done at this critical juncture ; they saw that 
a war was inevitable ; and that it was to be with that 
country which first planted them in America, and raised 
them to maturity ; a country with which they were con- 
nected by consanguinity ; by custom, and by manners ; 
by religion ; by laws, and by language; a country that 
they had always been taught to respect and to consider 

* Memoirs. 



BALLOTING FOR OFFICERS. 67 

as amongst the first in the world. A rich and powerful 
nation, with numerous fleets, and experienced admirals 
sailing triumphant over the ocean ; with large armies and 
able generals in many parts of the globe. This great 
nation we dared to oppose, without money ; without 
arms ; without ammunition ; no generals ; no armies ; no 
admirals ; and no fleets ; this was our situation when the 
contest began. On our first meeting they determined 
upon a defensive war ; and the fourth day it was resolved 
to raise two regiments of five hundred men each ; and 
some confidential gentlemen were immediately sent to the 
West-India Islands, in small fast sailing vessels, to pro- 
cure powder. They were so successful as to bring home 
ten thousand poundfe, which was a very seasonable supply. 
The military ardor was so great, that many more candi- 
dates presented themselves, from the first families in the 
Province, as officers for the two regiments than were 
wanted ; every one was zealous in the cause ; those who 
through infirmities and particular domestic situations 
could not take the field, went into the cabinet and other 
civil employment ; and in this way did we divide our- 
selves in diflerent departments. 

" The day after the officers of the first and second regi- 
ments of foot were balloted for, it was resolved to raise 
a regiment of cavalry rangers of five hundred men. The 
pay and rations of the officers in the British service had 
at that time ; the soldiers had one shilling sterling per 
day ; the rangers had much more, as they were to find 
their own horses. In regard to the regiment of rangers, 
it was thought not only useful, but politic to raise them, 
because the most influential gentlemen in the back country 



68 LIFE OF GENEKAL FRANCIS MARION. 

were appointed officers, which interested them in the 
cause." 

In organizing the army, referred to in the above ex- 
tract from Moultrie's Memoirs, the reader will observe 
that instead of the company officers being elected by the 
men as in New England, they were balloted for by con- 
gress. Their first duty it appears was to recruit the 
men required for service. 

Among the officers elected by the provincial congress 
to serve in the first and second regiments, we recognize 
some of the most illustrious names in American history. 
Christopher Gadsden was Colonel of the first regiment, 
and William Moultrie of the second. Among the cap- 
tains were Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Francis Marion, 
Peter Horry, Daniel Horry, Thomas Pinckney, and 
Francis Huger. 

Marion, no doubt, was well pleased to serve in the 
regiment of Colonel Moultrie, who had been his captain 
at Etchoe. He had already begun to raise recruits, 
when (June 21) his commission was made out. In his 
recruiting service he was assisted by Captain Peter 
Horry, who belonged also to Colonel Moultrie's regi- 
ment. 

They were very successful in recruiting, and in a 
short time made up the requisite number of sixty 
men for each of their companies. The men were 
enlisted only for a term of six months. This bad 
system of short enlistments was followed at that 
time in all the other colonies. Washington's army at 
the siege of Boston was very near dissolution at one time 
from this excuse. 



JASPER AND MACDONALD. 69 

Many of the recruits for the second regiment were of 
Irish descent. Among them were two soldiers, Jasper 
and Macdonakl, Avho afterwards became celebrated for 
their exploits during the war. 

, ''About this time," says Moultrie, "the Catawba In- 
dians were alarmed, and could not tell what to make of 
it, on seeing such military preparations throughout the 
country ; they sent down two runners to Charleston, to 
be informed of the reasons. They had been told different 
stories, and they came down to know the truth. The 
Council of Safety sent up by them a talk to their nation, 
acquainting them that our brothers on the other side of 
the water wanted to take our property from us without 
our consent, and that we would not let them ; and that 
we expected their warriors would join ours. The Coun- 
cil of Safety informed them that the people of Boston 
had had a great fight * with the red-coats, and had killed 
a great many of them. The Catawbas were requested 
to send the talk on to the Cherokees. 

* Battle of Lexioffton. 



TO LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Noble conduct of Carolina at the commencement of tlie Revolutiona 
ry War — State of parties — Activity of the tories — Marion con- 
cerned in the first act of open hostility — The capture of Fort 
Johnson — Colonel Moultrie directs this service — His account of 
the capture and of the events immediately succeeding it. 

South Carolina deserves infinite credit for the bold 
stand which she took at the very commencement of the 
Revolutiomirj War. Had her leading citizens consulted 
their own ease, and the safety of their fortunes, they 
would have joined the royal cause. Georgia did not 
join the other colonies till July 1777. But South Ca- 
rolina sent delegates to the Continental Congress of 
1774, and never faltered in her patriotism even when 
the enemy was in possession of every military post in 
the colony. Her Gadsdens, Pinckneys, Moultries; Ma- 
rions, and Sumters, had counted the cost of indepen- 
dence, and literally risked '' their lives, their fortunes, 
and their sacred honor in its defence." 

This conduct of the Carolina patriots is the more 
creditable to them from the fact, that through the whole 
contest they had to encounter the formidable opposition 
of a powerful party of tories, which pervaded the whole 
province, and rendered the most active service to the 



ANOMALOUS STATE OF AFFAIRS. 71 

royal cause. In 1775, before the actual commencement 
of hostilities at Charleston, this party was strenuously op- 
posing the proceedings of the patriots, and endeavoring 
to intimidate the people, by painting in glowing colors 
the terrible dangers to be encountered in a contest with 
so powerful a nation as Great Britain ; and their emissa- 
ries were already stirring up the Indians on the Western 
border to take part in the impending hostilities, on the 
side of the crown. 

Relying on the support of this party, the royal gover- 
nor, Lord William Campbell, still continued to reside in 
Charleston, and to exercise certain acts of authority, 
even after the provincial congress had ordered a levy of 
troops. While these troops were being raised, two Bri- 
tish men of war, the Tamar and the Cherokee, were an- 
chored in Rebellion Roads opposite Sullivan's Island ; 
and Fort Johnson, on James's Island, was held by a 
garrison of the king's forces. 

This anomalous state of affairs was undoubtedly owing 
to the still existing doubt in the minds of both parties, 
whether open war was really about to ensue. But this 
doubt was not permitted to continue long. In the first 
act of overt hostility, Marion was destined to take a 
part. This was the capture of Fort Johnson situated on 
the most northernly point of James's Island, and within 
point blank shot of the channel, and held, as already 
stated, by a British garrison. 

Doctor Ramsay says that this measure was decided, be- 
cause "about the middle of September, 1775, the general 
committee became possessed of intelligence, obtained by 
artifice, directly from Lord William Campbell, ' that troops 



72 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

would be sent out to all the colonies/ On the next 
evening,'* he continues, "it was resolved that proper 
measures ought immediately to be taken to prevent Fort 
Johnson being made use of to the prejudice of the colony." ^ 

This service was entrusted to Colonel Moultrie. His , 
account of the expedition is so characteristic and graphic^ 
that we copy it in detail, with the orders, &c. He 
says :* 

Fort Johnson was still garrisoned by the British, 
under Colonel Howarth's command. I was ordered to 
send and take possession of it. A day or two before th^ 
*fort was taken. Colonel Howarth, whom the inhabitants 
respected very much, was invited to go with a party into 
the country, to be out of the way, that no injury should 
happen to his person or character ; he went, accordingly, 
not suspecting our intentions. 

By the order I received from the Council of Safety, for 
taking Fort Johnson, f they must have conceived it a 
hazardous and dangerous attempt, by the number of men 
they required for that service. 

" In Council of Safety. 
" Charleston, Sep. 13, 1775. 
« gir^ — You are to detach one hundred and fifty men 
Tinder such command as you shall judge most proper for 
the service ; to embark this night at a proper time of 
the tide, to proceed with the utmost secrecy and land at 
a convenient place on James' Island. Mr. Verree and 
Mr. William Gibbs will be at Captain Stone's, or in the 

* Moultrie's Memoirs. Vol. 1. p. 86. 

f The garrison we were certain had but six men and a gunner. 



CAPTURE OF FORT JOIINSOX. 73 

neighborliood, attending the landing, in order to conduct 
the commanding officer to Fort Johnson, which he is to 
, enter and take possession of, with as much secrecy and 
silence as possible ; taking especial care that none be- 
longing to the fort escape, and that no intelligence be 
given but by his orders. When the officer, who shall be 
sent upon this service is in possession of the fort, he is 
immediately to give notice to this board and wait for 
orders ; except only in case the man-of-war* now lying 
in the K-ebellion-road, should make an attempt to attack 
the fort or proceed towards this town, when he is to do 
every thing in his power to prevent her progress. Cap- 
, tain Stone, of James' Island, will order his company of 
militia to join the troops which you send, and the whole 
are to be detained till relieved by our order. 

" By order of the Council of Safety. 

" Henry Laurens, President. 

" William Moultrie, Esq. Colonel of the second 
Regiment." 

In consequence of receiving this order, I immediately 
issued the subsequent orders to the troops : 

" General Orders, 

"14th September, 1775, 4 o'clock, P. M. 

" Ordered, that Captains Charles Cotesworth Pinck- 
ney's, Bernard Elliot's, and Francis Marion's companies 
be immediately completed to fifty men each, from their 
respective corps, and hold themselves in readiness to 
march in three hours. Colonel Motte is appointed for 
this command, and will receive his orders from the com- 
manding officer." 

* Always in dread of this man-of-war. 



74 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

The orders given to Colonel Motte "were similar to those 
I received from the Council of Safety. 

This detachment went on board their boats at twelve 
o'clock at night, at Gadsden's-wharf, and, dropping down 
with the ebb tide, landed on James' Island, a little above 
the fort, and marched in immediately unmolested ; the 
garrison escaped to the man-of-war, then in the road, 
but not before they had thrown down all the guns and 
their carriages from off the platform, which plainly 
shows that they had information of our intentions to take 
the fort. 

So little were we acquainted with naval affairs, and so 
highly impressed with the mighty power of a British man- 
of-war, that although we had got possession of a strong 
fort and one hundred and fifty good regular troops, and 
the James' Island company of militia of about fifty men, 
yet the Council of Safety was so fearful of the Tamar 
sloop-of-war mounting 14 or 16 six pounders, attacking 
the fort, that they gave me orders to send down two 
hundred and fifty men, as a reinforcement to Colonel 
Motte, which I did by the following order. 

" General Orders, Sept. 15, 1775. 
" Ordered, that Captains Benjamin Cattel, Adam Mc- 
Donald, and John Barnwell's companies of the first regi- 
ment, and that Captains Peter Horry, and Francis 
Huger's companies be completed to fifty men each, and 
to hold themselves in readiness to march. Major Owen 
Roberts to command this detachment." 

" To Major Owen Roberts, of the first regiment. 
" Sir — You are to proceed with your detachment to 



FIRST FLAG OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 75 

Gadsden's-wharf, where you will find two schooners ready 
to take on board your party ; with them you will proceed 
to Fort Johnson on James' Island ; on your arrival there 
you are to send an officer to Colonel Motte to acquaint 
him. Then march to the fort and put yourself under his 
command ; you are not to suffer any boats* to obstruct 
your passage." 

" To Lieutenant Colonel Motte. 

" Sir, — I have sent Major Roberts with two hundred 
and fifty men to reinforce you. You are to defend the 
fort from all parties that may attempt to land, but if the 
man-of-warf should attack the fort, and you find you 
cannot make a stand against her, you are to withdraw 
your men to some place of safety, out of the reach of her 
guns ; but you are to take care not to suffer any parties 
to land with an intent to damage the fort." 

At the same time Captain Thomas Heyward, with a 
detachment of Charleston artillery, went down with gin 
and tackles and had three cannon mounted immediately. 

Abmit this time the Cherokee sloop-of-war arrived. 
A little time after we were in possession of Fort Johnson, 
it was thought necessary to have a flag for the purpose 
of signals : (as there was no national or state flag at that 
time,) I was desired by the Council of Safety to have 
one made, upon which, as the state troops were clothed 
in blue, and the fort was garrisoned by the first and 

* Fear of the man-of-war boats, 

f Every order and every movement of ours shows how fearful we 
were of the man of-war ; all these orders were issued agreeably to the 
Council of Safety's directions. 



76 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

second regiments, who wore a silver crescent on the front 
of their caps ; I had a large blue flag made with a cres- 
cent in the dexter corner, to be in uniform with the 
troops. This was the first American flag which was dis- 
played in South Carolina. On its being first hoisted, it 
gave some uneasiness to our timid friends, who were 
looking forward to a reconciliation. They said it had 
the appearance of a declaration of war ; and Captain 
Thornborough, in the Tamar sloop-of-war, lying in .Re- 
bellion-road would look upon it as an insult, and a flag 
of defiance, and he would certainly attack the fort ; but 
he knew his own force, and knew the weight of our 
metal ; he therefore kept his station and contented him- 
self with spying us. 

Lord William Campbell,* the Governor of the province, 
when he discovered from on board the Tamar sloop-of- 
war, that we were in possession of Fort Johnsiin, he sent 
his secretary, Mr. Innis, in the man-of-war's boat to the 
fort, to demand " by what authority we had taken posses- 
sion of his Majesty's fort ;" he was answered, " by the 
authority of the Council of Safety," he then made his 
bow and went ofi". After we had taken the fort we were 
in apprehensions, lest these two small men-of-war should 
attack the fort or the town ; on the 16th September 
orders were issued that all ofiicers belonging to the two 
South- Carolina regiments' should hold themselves in 
readiness, upon any alarm, to be immediately at the 
barracks. 

Moultrie's account of this affair, the capture of Fort 

^ Lord William Campbell went on board the Tamar, for refuge, on 
the day of the capture of Fort Johnson. 



PRESTIGE OF BRITISH POWER. 77 

Jolinson, without firing a shot, shows throughout the 
powerful effect of the prestige of British power enter- 
tained at that time ; as well as the undaunted courage 
of the patriots in setting that power at defiance. The 
little Tamar was formidable because she was a British 
man-of-war ; but if she attacked the fort its defenders 
were to meet force by force, &c. The Carolinians soon 
learned to place a juster estimate on the character of 
the British navy. The subsequent affair of Fort Moultrie 
was soon to set that matter in a truer light. 



78 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCLS MARION. 



CHAPTER IX. 

State of parties — Captain Thornborougli threatens to intercept vessels 
bound to Charleston — Meeting of Congress — The first actual fight- 
ing — Regiment of artillery raised — Moultrie drives the British men 
of war out of the harbor of Charleston — Two regiments of rifle- 
men ordered to be raised — Marion in command at Dorchester — At 
Fort Johnson — Marion promoted to the rank of Major — His 
excellent discipline — Marion engaged in erecting Fort Sullivan — 
Arrival of General Lee — His opinion in favor of abandoning 
Fort Sullivan — Colonel Moultrie's account of the defence of Fort 
Sullivan. 

It would naturally be supposed that, after the seizure 
of Fort Johnson, actual fighting would immediately com- 
mence. But such was not the case. Both parties 
seemed averse to proceed immediately to the final arbi- 
trement of the sword. The royal governor, Lord Wil- 
liam Campbell, who still remained on board the Tam.ar, 
was anxious to gain time till a strong British armament 
should arrive and quell the rebellion ; and he was the 
rallying point of the tory party throughout the province, 
who communicated with him by means of emissaries, and 
received from him promises of support in their opposition 
to the patriots. 

On the other hand, the patriots were not yet prepared 
to drive away the British ships and the governor by 



NEW PROVINCIAL CONGRESS. 79 

Open force. They resorted to an indecisive system of 
annoyance. 

The popular leaders issued orders forbidding the 
king's victuallers to supply the men of war "with provi- 
sions and water, otherwise than from day to day. After 
sundry letters and messages had passed on this subject, 
Captain Thornborough, of the sloop Tamar, gave public 
notice, "that if his majesty's agents in Charleston were 
not permitted regularly, and without molestation, to 
supply the king's ships, Tamar and Cherokee, with such 
provisions as he thought necessary to demand, he would 
not from that day, so far as it was in his power, suffer 
any vessel to enter the harbor of Charleston, or depart 
from it." 

The new provincial congress met, agreeably to their 
original appointment, on the 1st of i^ovember, 1775. 
On that day. Captain Thornborough sent his menacing 
letter to the chairman of the general committee. This 
congress had been chosen subsequent to the late resolu- 
tion for raising troops, and resisting Great Britain. The 
royal servants presumed that the people at large would 
not justify these invasions of their master's prerogative ; 
and, as they had lately had an opportunity given by a 
general and free election to express their real opinions 
on the state of the province, that the new congress would 
reverse the determinations of the former. To the great 
surprise of the king's officers the new provincial congress, 
instead of receding from the resolutions of their prede- 
cessors, took methods to ward off the injuries that might 
arise from the execution of the menaces of Captain 
Thornborough. They sent out two armed pilot boats 



80 LIFE OP GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

'W^itli orders to cruise near the bar, and to caution all 
vessels destined for Charleston to steer for some other 
port. 

The late congress in June had agreed to arm the co- 
lony ; but many still shuddered at the idea of hostile 
operations against their former friends and fellow-sub- 
jects. It was at length, after much debating, resolved 
by the new congress, on the 9th of November, 1775, to 
direct the American officer commanding at Fort Johnson, 
'' by every military operation to endeavor to oppose the 
passage of any British naval armament that might at- 
tempt to pass." Though the fort had been in the pos- 
session of the Council of Safety for near two months, yet 
a variety of motives restrained them from issuing orders 
to fire on the king's ships. When this resolution was 
adopted, they communicated it to Captain Thornborough, 
commander of the Tamar sloop of war. 

An open passage to the town, without approaching 
Fort Johnson, was still practicable for the small royal 
armed vessels Tamar and Cherokee. It was therefore, 
at the same time, resolved to obstruct the passage through 
Hog Island channel. Captain Tufts was ordered to co- 
ver and protect the sinking of a number of hulks in that 
narrow strait. While he was engaged in this business 
on board a coasting schooner, which was armed for the 
security of the town and called the Defence, the Tamar 
and Cherokee warped in the night of November 12, 
1775, within gun shot of him and began a heavy can- 
nonade. The inhabitants were alarmed, expecting that 
the town, in its defenceless state, would be fired upon ; 
but about sunrise both vessels dropped down to their 



SEIZURE OF CHARLESTON VESSELS. 81 

moorings on Rebellion Road, without having done any ma- 
terial injury either to the schooner or to any of her crew. 
The schooner Defence returned a few shot, but they were 
equally ineifectuaL This was the commencement of hos- 
tilities in South Carolina. 

On the evening of the same day, on which this attack 
was made, the provincial congress impressed for the pub- 
lic service the ship Prosper ; and appointed a committee 
to fit and arm her as a frigate of war. On the day fol- 
lowing they voted that a regiment of artillery should be 
-raised, to consist of three companies with one hundred 
men in each. 

Agreeably to the menaces of Captain Thornborough, 
the king's ships in the road seized all the vessels within 
their reach which were either coming to Charleston or 
going from it. These seizures commenced several weeks 
prior to the act of parliament for confiscating American 
property. 

After these unauthorized seizures of private property 
had been continued about six weeks, the Council of Safety 
took measures to drive the royal armed vessels out of 
the road of Charleston.* Colonel Moultrie, with a par- 
ty, took possession of Haddrill's point and mounted a 
few pieces of heavy artillery on some slight works. A 
few well directed shots from this post induced the com- 
manders of the Cherokee and Tamar to put out to *sea. 

* An opinion generally prevailed that these small royal armed ves- 
sels could at any time destroy Charleston by firing into it. As often 
as they bent their sails, an alarm was communicated that they were 
about to commence a bombardment. The inhabitants were for se- 
veral months kept in daily painful expectation of such an event. 
6 



82 LIFE OF GENERAL FRAXCIS MARION. 

The harbor and road being clear, the Council of Safety 
proceeded in their plans of defence. They completed 
the fortifications at Haddrill's point, and at Fort John- 
son — continued a chain of fortifications in front of the 
town, both to the eastward and southward — and erected 
a new fort on James' Island to the westward of Fort 
Johnson, and a very strong one on Sullivan's Island. 
The militia were diligently trained, the provincial troops 
were disciplined, and every preparation made to defend 
the colony. 

In addition to the four regiments ordered to be raised 
in the year 1775, two regiments of riflemen were voted 
in February 1776. 

'Before the departure of the king's ships, it had been 
decided to establish a military post at Dorchester ; it 
being supposed that the powder which had been collected 
in considerable quantities and the other munitions of war 
would be safer from seizure by the enemy there than in 
Charleston, the place being situated twenty miles in the 
interior on Ashley river. 

The stores, public records, and munitions of war were 
accordingly sent to this place, which was occupied by a 
garrison under the command of Marion. Garrison duty, 
however, was bv no means suited to his taste. There 
was nothing for him to do at Dorchester but to train the 
soldiers and keep guard over the stores. He got trar\s- 
ferred to Fort Johnson, and here he found more active 
employment -in completing the defences of that place. 

Meantime a formidable invasion was preparing for 
South Carolina. Sir Henry Clinton, the British com- 



ARRIVAL OF THE BRITISH FLEET. 83 

mander at New York, had determined to make an at- 
tempt on the capital of that colony. 

Early in the month of April, a letter from the secre- 
tary of state to Mr. Eden, the royal governor of Mary- 
land, disclosing the designs of administration against the 
southern colonies, was intercepted in the Chesapeake ; 
and thus, South Carolina became apprised of the dan- 
ger which threatened its metropolis. Mr. Rutledge, a 
gentleman of vigour and talents, who had been chosen 
president of that province on the dissolution of the regal 
government, adopted the most energetic means for plac- 
ing it in a posture of defence. 

In the beginning of June, the British fleet came to an- 
chor off the harbor of Charleston. The bar was crossed 
w^ith some difficulty ; after which, it was determined to 
commence operations by silencing a fort on Sullivan's 
island. 

During the interval between passing the bar and at- 
tacking the fort, the continental troops of Virginia and 
North Carolina arrived in Charleston ; and the Ameri- 
can force amounted to between five and six thousand 
men, of w^hom two thousand five hundred were regulars. 
This army was commanded by General Lee, whose for- 
tune it had been to meet General Clinton at New York, 
in Virginia, and in North Carolina. Viewing with a 
military eye the situation of the post entrusted to his 
care, Lee was disinclined to hazard his army by en- 
gaging it deeply in the defence of the town; but the 
solicitude of the South Carolinians to preserve their cap- 
ital, aided by his confidence in his own vigilance, pre- 



84 LIFE OF GEXERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

'vailed over a caution which was thought extreme, and 
determined him to attempt to maintain the place. 

Two regCilar regiments of South Carolina, commanded 
bj Colonels Gadsden and Moultrie, garrisoned Fort John- *^ 
son and Fort Moultrie. About five hundred regulars, 
and three hundred militia under Colonel Thompson, were 
stationed in some works which had been thrown up on 
the northeastern extremity of Sullivan's Island ; and the 
remaining troops were arranged on Haddrill's Point, and "^ 
along the bay in front of the town. General Lee re- 
mained in person with the troops at Haddrill's Point, in 
the rear of Sullivan's Island. His position was chosen 
in such a manner as to enable him to observe and sup- 
port the operations in every quarter, and especially to 
watch and oppose any attempt of the enemy to pass from 
Long Island to the continent ; a movement of which ' he 
seems to have been p9,rticularly apprehensive. 

From the first. General Lee had been of opinion that / 
Fort Sullivan ought to be abandoned. He did not be- 
lieve that it could be defended against a powerful Bri- 
tish fleet; "But," says Moultrie, "President Rutledge 
insisted that it should not be given up." * * * * 
"General Lee," he continues, "one day on a visit to 
the fort, took me aside and said, '- Colonel Moultrie, do 
you think you can maintain this post V I answered him 
' Yes, I think I can,' and that was all that passed on 
the subject between us." 

The following is Colonel Moultrie's account of the me- 
morable defence of Fort Sullivan. As he was in com- 
mand of the fort, and an eye-witness of the whole aflair, 
we give the narrative in his own words : 



LOSS OP THE BEITISn. 85 

^ On tlie morning of the 28th of June, I paid a visit to 
our advanced-guard (on horseback three miles to the 
eastward of our fort) ; while I was there, I saw a number 
of the enemy's boats in motion, at the back of Long Is- 
land, as if they intended a descent upon our advanced 
post ; at the same time, I saw the men-of-war loose their 
topsails. I hurried back to the fort as fast as possible ; 
w^hen I got there the ships were already under sail ; I 
immediately ordered the long roll to beat, and officers 
and men to their posts. We had scarcely manned our guns, 
when the following ships of war came sailing up, as if in 
confidence of victory ; as soon as they came within the 
reach of our guns, we began to fire ; they were soon 
abreast of the fort — let go their anchors, with springs 
upon their cable's, and begun their attack most furiously 
about 10 o'clock, A. M., and continued a brisk fire till 
about 8 o'clock, P. M. 

The ships were, the Bristol, of 50 guns, Commodore 
Sir Peter Parker. The captain had his arm shot ofi) 
44 men killed and thirty wounded. 

The Experiment, 50 guns : the captain lost his arm, 
57 men killed, and 30 wounded. The Active, 28 guns : 1 
lieutenant killed, 1 man wounded. The Sole-Bay, 28 
guns : 2 killed, 3 or 4 wounded. The Syren, 28 guns. 
The Acteon, 28 guns : burnt ; 1 lieutenant killed. The 
Sphinx, 28 guns : lost her bowsprit. The Friendship, 
26 guns : an armed vessel taken into service.* 

The Thunder Bomb had the beds of her mortar soon 
disabled ; she threw her shells in a very good direction ; 

* The killed and wounded on board of the men-of-war was from 
their own account. 



86 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

most of them fell witliin tlio fort, but we had a morass 
in the middle, that swallowed them up instantly, and 
those that fell in the sand in and about the fort, were 
immediately buried, so that very few of them bursted 
amongst us. At one time, the Commodore's ship swung 
round with her stern to the fort, which drew the fire of 
all the guns that could bear upon her : we supposed she 
had had the springs of her cables cut away. The 
words that passed along the platform by ofBcers and 
men, were, "Mind the Commodore, mind the two fifty 
gun ships." Most all the attention was paid to the two 
fifty gun ships, especially the Commodore, who, I dare 
say, was not at all obliged to us for our particular atten- 
tion to him ; the killed and wounded on board those two 
fifty gun ships confirms what I say. During the action, 
General Lee paid us a visit through a heavy line of fire, 
and pointed two or three guns himself; then said to me, 
" Colonel, I see you are doing very well here, you have 
no occasion for me, I will go up to town again," and 
then left us. 

When I received information of General Lee's ap- 
proach to the fort, I sent Lieutenant Marion, from oif 
the platform, with 8 or 10 men, to unbar the gateway, 
(our gate not being finished,) the gateway was barricaded 
with pieces of timber eight or ten inches square, 
which required three or four men to remove each piece ; 
the men in the ships' tops, seeing those men run from 
the platform, concluded "we were quitting the fort," as 
some author mentions. Another says " we hung up a 
man in the fort, at the time of the action ;" that idea 
was taken from this circumstance : when the action be- 



TTAXT OF POWDER. . 87 

gan, (it being a warm day,) some of the men took off tlieir 
coats and threw them upon the top of the merlons, I saw 
a shot take one of them and throw it into a small tree 
behind the platform, it was noticed by the men and they 
cried out, "Look at the coat." Kever did men fight more 
bravely, and never were men more cool ; * their only dis- 
tress was the want of powder ; we had not more than 
28 rounds, for 26 guns, 18 and 26 pounders, when we 
began the action ; and a little after, 500 pounds from 
town, and 200 pounds from Captain Tufft's schooner ly- 
ing at the back of the fort. 

There cannot be a doubt, but that if we had had as 
much powder as we could have expended in the time, 
that the men-of-war must have struck their colors, or 
they would certainly have been sunk, because they could 
not retreat, as the wind and tide were against them ; 
and if they had proceeded up to town, they would have 
been in a much worse situation. They could not make any 
impression on our fort, built of palmetto logs and filled 
in with earth. Our njerlons were 16 feet thick, and high 
enough to cover the men from the fire of the tops. The 
men that we had killed and wounded received their shots 
mostly through the embrasures.! 

An author, who published in 1779, says, " The guns 

* Several of the officers, as well as myself, were smoking our pipes 
and giving orders at the time of the action ; but we laid them down 
when General Leo came into the fort. 

t Twelve men were killed and 24 wounded. "WTien Sergeant 'SV- 
Donald received his mortal wound, he, addressing his brother soldiers 
who were carrying him to the doctor, desired them not to give up, 
that they were fighting for liberty and their country. 



88 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

were at one time so long silenced, that it was thouglit 
the fort was abandoned ; it seems extraordinary that a 
detachment of land forces were not in readiness on hoard 
of the transports or boats, to profit of such an occasion." 

The guns being so long silent, was owing to the scar- 
city of powder which we had in the fort, and to a report 
that was brought me, "that the British troops were 
landed between the advance guard and the fort ;"* it 
was upon this information, that I ordered the guns to 
cease firing, or to fire very slow upon the shipping ; that 
we should reserve our powder for the musketry to de- 
fend ourselves against the land forces, there being a 
great scarcity of powder at this time. 

At one time, 3 or 4 of the men-of-war's broadsides 
struck the fort at the same instant, which gave the mer- 
lons such a tremor, that I was apprehensive that a few more 
such would tumble them down. During the action, three 
of the men-of-war, in going round to our west curtain, got 
entangled together, by which the Acteon frigate went 
on shore on the middle ground; the Sphinx lost her 
bowsprit ; and the Syren cleared herself without any 
damage; had these three ships efi"ected their purpose, 
they would have enfiladed us in such a manner, as to 
have driven us from our guns. It being a very hot day, 
we were served along the platform with grog in fire- 
buckets, which we partook of very heartily. I never had 
a more agreeable draucrht than that which I took out of 
one of those buckets at the time ; it may be very easily 

* The advance, is about 3 miles from the fort at the east end of 
Sullivan's Island. 



THE BRITISH EETIRE. 89 

conceived wliat lieat and thirst a man must feel in tliis 
climate, to be upon a platform on the 28th of June, 
amidst 20 or 30 pieces of cannon,* in one continual 
blaze and roar ; and clouds of smoke curling over his 
head for hours together ; it vras a very honorable situa- 
tion, but a very unpleasant one. 

Durinrr the action, thousands of our fellow-citizens 
were looking on with anxious hopes and fears,t some of 
whom had their fathers, brothers, and husbands, in the 
battle ; whose hearts must have been pierced at every 
broadside. After some time our flag was shot away ; 
their hopes were then gone, and they gave up all for 
lost! supposing that we had struck our flag, and had 
given up the fort. Sergeant Jasper perceiving that the 
flag was shot away, and had fallen without the fort, 
jumped from one of the embrasures, and brought it up 
through a heavy fire, fixed it upon a spunge-staff, and 
planted it upon the ramparts again. Our flag once more 
waving in the air, revived the drooping spirits of our 
friends ; and they continued looking on, till night had 
closed the scene, and hid us from their view ; only the 
appearance of a heavy storm, with continual flashes and 
peals like thunder ; at night when we came to our slow 
firing (the ammunition being nearly quite gone) we could 
hear the shot very distinctly strike the ships. At length 
the British gave up the conflict. The ships slipped their 
cables, and dropped down with the tide, and out of the 
reach of our guns. When the firing had ceased, our 
friends for a time were again in an unhappy suspense, 

■^" 18 and 26 French pounders. 

f At about 6 miles distance. 



90 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

not knowing our fate ; till they received an account by 
a dispatch boat, which I sent up to town, to acquaint 
them, that the British ships had retired, and that we 
were victorious. 

Early the next morning was presented to our view, 
the Acteon frigate, hard and fast aground, at about 
400 yards distance ; we gave her a few shot, which she 
returned, but they soon set fire to her, and quitted her. 
Captain Jacob Milligan and others went in some of our 
boats, boarded her while she was on fire, and pointed 2 
or 3 guns at the Commodore, and fired them ; then 
brought off the ship's bell, and other articles, and had 
scarcely left her, when she blew up, and from the explo- 
sion issued a grand pillar of smoke, which soon expanded 
itself at the top, and to appearance, formed the figure 
of a palmetto tree ; the ship immediately burst into a 
great blaze that continued till she burnt down to the 
water's edge. 

The other ships lay at the north point of Morris's 
Island ; we could plainly see they had been pretty roughly 
handled, especially the Commodore. 

The same day, a number of our friends and fellow 
citizens came to congratulate us on our victory, and 
Governor Rutledge presented Sergeant Jasper with a 
sword, for his gallant behaviour ; * and Mr. William 
Logan, a hogshead of rum to the garrison, with the fol- 
lowing card : *' Mr. William Logan presents his com- 
pliments to Colonel Moultrie, and the officers and sol- 
diers on Sullivan's Island, and begs their acceptance of a 

* Governor Rutledge at the same time ofFered Jasper a commission, 
which he decliucd, from his iaabilitv to read and write. 



LOGAN'S PRESENT. 91 

hogshead of old Antigua rum, which being scarce in 
town at this time, will be acceptable." Mr. Logan's 
present was thankfully received. A few days after the 
action, we picked up, in and about the fort, 1200 shot 
of different calibers that was fired at us, and a great 
number of 13 inch shells. 

Mr. Simms says that tradition ascribes to the hand and 
eye of Marion the terrible effect of the last shot which was 
fired on that bloody day. It entered the cabin of the 
Commodore's ship, cut down two officers who were then 
drinking, and then passing to the main deck killed three 
sailors, and having gone clear through the ship, fell into 
the sea. 



92 LIFE OF GENERAL FKANCIS MARION. 



CHAPTER X. 

Effect of the battle of Fort Moultrie— Rewards to the victors — Pre- 
sentation of flags — Marion promoted to the rank of Lieutenant 
Colonel— Another Indian war^Marion sent to Georgia with rein, 
forcements— Placed in command of Fort Moultrie — Invasion and 
subjugation of Georgia* — General Lincoln placed in command of the 
Southern department— Bad state of defence in which he found 
South Carolina— He advances to Purysburg. -^ 

The gallant defence of the Palmetto Fort on Sullivan's 
Island, was justly regarded as- a most iiii port ant event. 
It saved the Carolinas from the horrors of war for a 
period of three years. Great and well merited praise 
was bestowed on Colonel Moultrie, who commanded the 
fort, and on the garrison, for the resolution displayed in 
defending it. Nor was the glory acquired on this occa- 
sion confined to them. All the troops that had been 
stationed on the island partook of it : and the thanks of 
the United Colonies were voted by Congress to General 
Lee, Colonel Moultrie, Colonel Thompson, and the 
officers and men under their command. 

Colonel Moultrie was also honoured vrith the thanks 
of the Commander-in-chief and of his fellow citizens ; 
and the fortress which ho had so nobly defended was 



MRS. ELLIOTT'S ADDRESS. 93 

tliencefortli called Fort Moultrie.- The second regiment 
of South Carolina which had borne so large a share in 
the defence was particularly distinguished by the praises 
of the people, and the compliments of Governor Rut- 
ledge. 

Proud of the encomiums bestowed on their valor, en- 
couraged by the animating address of the governor, to 
aim at the achievement of new honors, the feelings of 
the gallant second regiment were still more highly ex- 
cited, when Mrs. Barnard Elliot, presenting an elegant 
pair of colors, thus addressed them : 

" Gentlemen Soldiers, — Your gallant behavior, in 
defence of your country, entitles you to the highest 
honors ! Accept of these two standards as a reward 
justly due' to your regiment ; and I make not the least 
doubt but that, under heaven's protection, you will stand 
by them as long as they can wave in the air of liberty."* 

Moultrie, now advanced to the rank of Brigadier 
General, in his answer to this address, pledged the 
honor of the regiment to a compliance with the lady's 
implied injunction ; and this pledge was nobly redeemed 
at the siege of Savannah. 

Marion's share in the glory of this defence of Char- 
leston was publicly acknowledged by Congress, who 
raised him to the rank of lieutenant colonel. 

The effect of the battle of Fort Moultrie was most 
salutary throughout the whole country. By impressing 
upon the people a conviction of their ability to maintain 
the contest, it increased the number of those who resolved 
to resist British authority, and determined them to stand 
* Garden's Anecdotes. 



9-i LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

by the declaration of independence, wMcli took place 
within a week after the battle was fought. 

In South Carolina, the government took advantage of 
the hour of success to conciliate their opponents in the 
province. The adherents of royal power, who, for a 
considerable time, had been closely imprisoned, on pro- 
mising fidelity to their country, were set at liberty, and 
restored to all the privileges of citizens. The repulse 
of the British was also attended with another advantage, 
that of leaving- the Americans at liberty to turn their 
undivided force against the Indians, who had attacked 
the western frontier of the Southern States with all the 
fury and carnage of savage warfare. 

In 1775, when the breach between Great Britain and 
her colonies was daily becoming wider, one Stuart, the 
agent employed in conducting the intercourse between the 
British authorities and the Cherokees and Creeks, used 
all his influence to attach the Indians to the royal cause, 
and to inspire them with jealousy and hatred of the 
Americans. He found little difficulty in persuading 
them that the Americans, without provocation, had taken 
up arms against Britain, and were the means of prevent- 
ing them from receiving their yearly supplies of arms, 
ammunition, and clothing from the British government. 

The Americans had endeavored to conciliate the 
good-will of the Indians, but their scanty presents were 
unsatisfactory, and the savages resolved to take up the 
hatchet. Deeming the appearance of the British fleet 
in Charleston Bay a fit opportunity, the Cherokees in- 
vaded the western frontier of the province, marking their 
track with murder and devastation. 



MARION IN COMMAND AT FORT MOULTRIE. 95 

The speedy retreat of the British left the savages 
exposed to the vengeance of the Americans, who, in 
separate divisions, entered their country at different 
points, from Virginia and Georgia, defeated their war- 
riors, burned their viUages, laid waste their corn-fields, 
and incapacitated the Cherokees, for a considerable time, 
from giving the settlers further annoyance. Thus, in 
the south, the Americans triumphed over the British 
and Indians. 

After the action at Fort Moultrie, the next notice we 
have of Marion occurs in connection with an abortive in- 
vasion of Georgia, by a British force under Colonel 
Fuser in February 1779. At the approach of the ene- 
my, General Robert Howe, commanding the troops in 
South Carolina and Georgia, set off for Savannah, and 
requested that Colonel Moultrie would order a strong 
detachment in vessels, within land would follow him. 
Moultrie ordered Lieutenant Colonel Marion to take the 
command of the required detachment, which consisted of 
600 men, in several vessels, with four field pieces, a 
large quantity of ammunition, stores, intrenching tools, 
and provisions. This detachment left Charleston on 
the 20th of February ; but before Marion arrived at 
Savannah the enemy had retreated. They had pene- 
trated as far as Ogechee ferry, but Colonel Elbert, with 
about 200 men, prevented their crossing, and the ad- 
vance of Marion precipitated their retreat ; the invasion 
was abandoned, and in March the South Carolina troops 
were recalled from Georgia. After this affair, Marion 
was placed in command of a strong garrison at Fort 
Moultrie, in consequence of apprehensions, which were 



96 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION„ 

entertained, that a new expedition from the British main 
army at New York, was about to be ordered to Charles- 
ton. Marion appears to have held this command till the 
expedition of the British against Savannah, conducted 
bj Lieutenant Colonel Campbell, w^hich arrived on the 
coast of Georgia in December 1778. 

The British force was 4000 men. The fleet consisted of 
37 sail. General Robert Howe in command at Savannah 
had only 600 men, and Savannah speedily fell into the 
hands of the enemy. Colonel Campbell then proceeded 
to occupy Ebenezer, Abercorn, and other posts further 
inland. These operations lasted several months. 

The incapacity of General Robert Howe having become 
apparent, he had as early as September 1778, been ordered 
to repair to the head quarters of General Washington ; 
and General Lincoln, an excellent officer, was placed in 
command of the southern department. Sir Henry Clin- 
ton had ordered General Prevost to co-operate from East 
Florida with Colonel Campbell, and he had accordingly 
advanced into Georgia and captured Sunbury. He then 
took command of the British forces ; and detached Col- 
onel Campbell with 800 regulars and a few tories, who 
took Augusta without resistance, and thus the whole state 
of Georgia was reduced. 

On his arrival in Charleston, to take command of the 
southern department. General Lincoln found the military 
affairs of the country in a state of utter derangement. 
Congress had established no continental military chest 
in the southern department. This omission produced a 
dependence on the government of the state for supplies 
to move the army on any emergency, and consequent 



NEWS OF HOWE'S DEFEAT. 97 

subjection of the troops in continental service to its con- 
trol. The militia, though taken into continental service, 
considered themselves as subject only to the military 
code of the state. These regulations threatened to em- 
barrass all military operations, and to embroil the general 
with the civil government. 

"While Lincoln was laboring to make arrangements for 
the ensuing campaign, he received intelligence of the 
appearance of the enemy off the coast. The militia of 
North Carolina, amounting to two thousand men, com- 
manded by Generals Ashe and Rutherford, had already 
reached Charleston ; but were unarmed, and Congress 
had been unable to provide magazines in this part of the 
Union. These troops were, therefore, entirely dependent 
on South Carolina for every military equipment ; and 
arms were not delivered to them until it was too late to 
save the capital of Georgia. 

So soon as it was ascertained that the British fleet 
had entered the Savannah river. General Lincoln pro- 
ceeded with the utmost expedition towards the scene of 
action. On his march, he received intelligence of the 
victory gained over General Howe ; and was soon after- 
wards joined by the remnant of the defeated army at 
Purysburgh, a small town on the north side of the Savan- 
nah, where he established his head quarters. (Jan. 3. 
1779.) 

During the period of inaction which now ensued. Ser- 
geant Jasper performed one of those remarkable exploits 
which have rendered his name so celebrated. Having a 
brother in the British camp at Ebenezer, he went to pay 
him a visit, assuming the character of a deserter from 
the American army, and running the risk of certain 



98 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

death, if his real character of spy should be discovered. 
Having returned safely, he, some weeks afterwards, 
made a second visit to Ebenezer, taking Sergeant New- 
ton with him. While in the British camp, they observed 
some prisoners, handcuffed and guarded, being destined 
to be sent to Savannah for execution as deserters. One 
of them named Jones was attended by his wife and child. 
Jasper and Newton, moved by compassion, determined 
to attempt their rescue, although they were unarmed, 
and the prisoners, when sent off for Savannah, w^ere 
guarded by a sergeant, a corporal, and eight men. By 
dogging the steps of the guard, to within two miles of 
Savannah, they finally succeeded in their purpose, while 
the party were resting at a spring by the roadside. The 
guard left their muskets leaning against a tree, while 
they went to drink, and fill the canteens of the prison- 
ers. Jasper and Newton, springing from their ambush, 
seized the muskets, killed four of the guard, captured 
the rest, and liberated the prisoners. 



PICKENS DEFEATS BYED. 99 



CHAPTERXI. 

Change in the aspect of affairs — General Pickens defeats Colonel 
Byrd — General Lincoln sends General Ashe into Georgia — Defeat 
of Ashe — Its disastrous consequences — Lincoln marches into Geor- 
gia — Prevost menaces Charleston — Subsequent operations — Ma- 
rion at Fort Moultrie — Siege of Savannah — Obstinacy and folly 
of Count D' Estaing — He grants delay to the garrison till it is rein- 
forced and compels an assault unnecessarily — Marion takes part in 
the assault — The colors of the Second Kegiinent planted in the 
British lines — Several ofiBcers killed in defending them — Death of 
Sergeant Jasper — The siege raised and the expedition totally de- 
feated — Depreciation of the paper currency. 

At the time when General Robert Howe was recalled, 
and General Lincoln was sent to the South to supply his 
place, Congress had planned the reduction of East Flo- 
rida, under the direction of the latter officer. But the fall 
of Savannah and the reduction of Georgia by the Bri- 
tish, had totally changed the aspect of affairs. The 
theatre of war was now to be, not Florida, but Georgia 
and even South Carolina. 

A body of seven hundred tories, who had taken shelter 
among the Indians, attempted to rejoin the royal army. 
Being attacked by Colonel Pickens, with a party of mili- 
tia, Colonel Byrd, their commander, was killed, and only 
three hundred reached their destination. Several of the 



100 LIFE OF GENERAL FKANCIS MARION. 

prisoners were tried for treason and condemned, but all 
except the ringleaders were pardoned. 

General Lincoln, encouraged by this success, caused 
General Ashe, with 1400 men, to cross the Savannah, 
and take post at its junction with Briar Creek, a stream 
unfordable for some miles up, and appearing completely 
to secure his front. It was thus hoped to cut off the ad- 
vance of the British to the upper territories. Colonel 
Prevost, however, brother to the General, making a cir- 
cuit of fifty miles, and crossing at fords fifteen miles 
above, came unexpectedly on the rear of this body, and 
totally routed them ; the regular troops, after attempting 
resistance, being all either killed or taken. 

Moultrie, in his Memoirs, ascribes all the succeeding 
disasters to this defeat. He says : 

This unlucky affair at Briar Creek disconcerted all 
our plans, and through the misfortune of Generals Howe 
and Ashe, the war was protracted at least one year 
longer, for it is not to be doubted that had we crossed 
the river with our army, and joined General Ashe, which 
we were preparing to do, we should have had a body of 
7,000 men ; besides strong reinforcements were march- 
ing to us from every quarter sufficient to drive the ene- 
my out of Georgia ; and all the wavering, and all the 
disaffected would have immediately joined us ; and it is 
more than probable that Carolina would not have been 
invaded, had this event taken place. 

Notwithstanding the disastrous effects of Ashe's de- 
feat. General Lincoln, again reinforced, determined to 
proceed with his main body against Augusta. Prevost, 
instead of a long and harassing march in that direction, 



AID SOUGHT FROM d'eSTAING. 101 

sought to recall him by a movement against Charleston ; 
but intending only a feint, he proceeded with a leisure 
which he found reason to regret, as it appears had all 
practicable speed been employed, that capital would 
have fallen into his, hands. The alarm, however, had 
been given, and such active preparations made, that he 
did not venture to attack, but distributed his troops in 
the neighboring island of St. John. Lincoln, who had 
hastened down, made an attempt to beat up his quarters, 
without success ; and the midsummer heat causing a sus- 
pension of military operations, the British troops retired 
unmolested into Georgia. 

While General Prevost was at the island of St. John, 
in the neighborhood of Charleston, Marion was in com- 
mand of Fort Moultrie, ready to resit any renewed attempt 
on Charleston. But he was soon summoned to join the 
army which was sent to co-operate with the French force 
under the Count D' Estaing in the attack on Savannah. 

The state of affairs in the South had called so impera- 
tively for the attention of Congress, that a portion of 
Washington's army had been detached to join General 
Lincoln. Washington solicited more powerful aid from 
D'Estaing, who then commanded in the West Indies an 
army sufficiently powerful to crush entirely the English 
} in Georgia. The French admiral received this applica- 
tion just after having fought a hard battle against Com- 
modore Byron without any decisive result, yet such as 
obliged the latter to go into port to refit. The former, 
being thus for a time master of the sea, determined at 
once to comply with the request, took on board six thou- 
sand land-troops, and steered direct for Savannah, 



102 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

where, arriving quite unexpectedly, he captured by sur- 
prise a fifty-gun ship and three frigates. Prevost, too, 
was very unprepared, having his force broken up into 
detachments distributed along the frontier ; but these 
being instantly ordered in, obeyed with such prompti- 
tude that before the French had landed and formed a 
junction with Lincoln, nearly all had arrived. On tlie 
16th of September, D'Estaing appeared before the place 
and summoned it to surrender. Prevost, under pretext 
of negotiation, obtained a suspension for twenty-four 
hours, during which Colonel Maitland entered with the 
last and largest detachment, eluding the Americans by 
a route supposed impassable ; and the full determination 
to resist was then announced. 

The opinion of all military men now is that D'Estaing 
was guilty of the most outrageous folly in not marching 
at once to the attack of the city, without summoning the 
weakened garrison to surrender at all. The surprise 
would have then been complete, and the victory sure. 
If we are to believe Horry, this was the opinion ex- 
pressed by Marion at the time. He says ; 

I never beheld Marion in so great a passion. I was 
actually afraid he would have broke out on General Lin- 
coln. '''My GrodT' he exclaimed, ''who ever heard of 
any thing like this before ! — first allow an enemy to en- 
treyich, and then fight him I I See the destruction hroiight 
upon the British at Bunker s Hill ! and yet our troops 
there were only 7nilitia I ratu, half-armed clod-hoppers ! 
and not a mortar, nor carronade, nor even a swivel — hut 
only their ducking guns I 

" What then are we to expect from regulars — com- 



SIEGE OF SAVANNAH. 103 

pletelj armed with a choice train of artillery, and co- 
vered by a breast-work. For my own part, when I look 
upon my brave fellows around me, it wrings me to the 
heart, to think how near most of them are to their bloody 
graves." "~ 

A regular siege was now commenced. Heavy ord- 
nance and stores were brought up from the fleet, and 
the besieging army broke ground. By the first of Octo- 
ber they had pushed their sap within 300 yards of the 
abattis, on the left of the British lines. Several batte- 
ries were opened on the besieged which played almost 
incessantly upon their works, but made no impression 
on them. 

The situation of D'Estaing was becoming critical. 
More time had already been consumed on the coast of 
Georgia than he had supposed w^ould be necessary for 
the destruction of the British force in that State. He 
became uneasy for the possessions of France in the West 
Indies, and apprehensive for the safety of the ships under 
his command. The naval officers remonstrated strenu- 
ously against longer exposing his fleet on an insecure 
coast, at a tempestuous season of the year, and urged the 
danger of being overtaken by a British squadron, when 
broken and scattered by a storm, with a degree of perse- 
vering earnestness which the Count found himself inca- 
pable of resisting. 

In a few days the lines of the besiegers might have 
been carried, by regular approaches, into the works of 
the besieged, which would have rendered the capture of 
the town and garrison inevitable. But D'Estaing de- 
clared that he could devote no more time to this object ; 



104 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

and it only remained to raise the siege, or to attempt 
the works by storm. The latter part of the alternative 
was adopted. 

On the left of the allied army, was a swampy hollow 
way which afforded a cover for troops advancing on the 
right flank of the besieged, to a point within fifty yards 
of their principal work. It was determined to march to 
the main attack along this hollow, and, at the same 
time, to direct feints against other parts of the lines. 

On the morning of the 9th of October, before day, a 
heavy cannonade and bombardment were commenced 
from all the batteries as preliminary to the assault. 
About three thousand five hundred French, and one 
thousand Americans, of whom between six and seven 
hundred were regulars, and the residue militia of 
Charleston, advanced in three columns, led by D'Estaing 
and Lincoln, aided by the principal officers of both na- 
tions, and made a furious assault on the British lines. 
Their reception was warmer than had been expected. 
The fire from the batteries of the besieged reached 
every part of the columns of the assailants which had 
emerged from the swamp, and did great execution. Yet 
the allied troops advanced with unabated ardor, passed 
through the abattis, crossed the ditch, and mounted the 
parapet. Both the French and Americans planted their 
standards on the walls, and were killed in great num- 
bers, while endeavoring to force their way into the 
works. For about fifty minutes, the contest was ex- 
tremely obstinate. At length, the columns of the as- 
sailants began to relax, and a pause was manifested in 



UNSUCCESSFUL ASSAULT. 105 

the assault. In this critical moment, Major Glaziers at 
the head of a body of grenadiers and marines, rushing 
suddenly from the lines, threw himself on those who had 
made their way into the redoubts, and drove them over 
the ditch and abattis into the hollow through which 
they had marched to the attack. It became apparent 
that farther perseverance could produce no advantage, 
and a retreat was ordered. 

In this unsuccessful attempt, the French lost in killed 
and wounded, about seven hundred men. Among the 
latter, were the Count D'Estaing himself. Major Gene- 
ral De Fontanges, and several other officers of dlstinctlon. 
The continental troops lost two hundred and thirty- 
four men, and the Charleston militia, who, though asso- 
ciated with them in danger, were more fortunate, had 
one captain killed, and six privates wounded. Count 
Pulaski was among the slain. 

The loss of the garrison was astonishingly small. In 
killed and wounded, it amounted only to fifty-five. So 
great was the advantage of the cover afibrded by their 
works. 

Marion, as second in command of the gallant Second 
South Carolina Regiment, took an active part in the as- 
sault. Pressing forward under a heavy fire, upon the 
Spring Hill redoubt, the Carolinians planted their co- 
lors on the berme. But the height of the parapet 
and the tremendous fire from the besieged prevented 
their proceeding further, and they were compelled to 
retreat with the other assailants. In this affair the fate 
of the two standards presented to the Second Regiment 



106 LIFE OP GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

hj Mrs. Elliott, is thus minutely described by Mr. Gar- 
den :* 

"" During the assault at Savannah, they were both 
planted on the British lines. The statement which I 
am about to give of the event, differs widely from that 
"which has been generally received ; but that it is correct, 
cannot be doubted, as it was afforded me by Lieutenant 
James Legare, whose services and character entitle him 
to all credit. He was present in the action, and immedi- 
ately in front of the colors, at the time that the officers 
who bore them were killed. Lieutenant Brush, sup- 
ported by Sergeant Jasper, carried one; Lieutenant 
Grey, supported by Sergeant McDonald, the other. 
Brush being wounded early in the action, delivered 
his standard to Jasper for its better security, who, 
already wounded, on receiving a second shot, restored it. 
Brush, at the moment receiving a mortal wound, fell into 
the ditch, with the colors under him, which occasioned 
their remaining in the hands of the enemy. Lieutenant 
Grey received a mortal wound, his colors were seized by 
McDonald, who planted them on the redoubt, but on 
hearing an order to retreat, plucked them up again, and 
carried them off in safety." 

The wound which Sergeant Jasper received, in his at- 
tempt to save the colors of the Second Regiment, proved 
mortal. He died in the American camp on the evening 
of the same day. He was attended in his last moments 
by Major, afterwards General Peter Horry, and in his 
last moments retained the noble character for courage 

* Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War. 



DEPRECIATION OF THE CURRENCY. 107 

and devotedness to the cause of liberty wliicli lie had 
borne from the commencement of the war. 

Count D'Estaing having committed a blunder at the 
beginning, had committed a worse blunder at the end by 
insisting on the assault, as unnecessary as it was rash. 
When the assault failed, he consummated his treachery to 
the American cause by deserting his allies without effect- 
ing the capture of the city, which might still have been 
done with the aid of the imposing French force. He 
insisted on raisino; the sieoce, and both the French and 
American armies moved from their ground on the even- 
ing of the 18th of October. D'Estaing sailed for the 
West Indies ; and Lincoln recrossed the Savannah at 
Zubly's Ferry and again encamped in South Caro- 
lina. 

"This disappointment," says Moultrie, speaking of 
the result of the siege, " depressed our spirits very much, 
and we began to be apprehensive for the safety of these 
two southern states ; it also depreciated our money so 
very low, that it was scarcely worth any thing." He 
refers to the state currency, the issue of which was com- 
menced by the issue of a million in 1775. Millions were 
not of much account now. Writing from Charleston to 
Lincoln (Sep. 26th, 1779), he says, " Yesterday arrived 
another 500,000 dollars for the State of Georgia. One 
and a half million more will be in to-morrow, for the pur- 
pose of exchanging the two emissions which were stopped 
in circulation." In a note he adds, "At this time our 
money was very much depreciated, 1618 for one, and we 
talked of millions, and in fact it was next to nothing. 
There was one conveniency in it, which was, that a couple 



108 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

of men on horseback, with their bags, could convey a 
million of dollars from one end of the continent to the 
other in a little time, with great facility." This state 
of the paper currency, on which the gallant colonel jests 
so pleasantly, was destined to become a matter of very 
grave importance in the conduct of the war. 



MAKION AT bacon's BRIDGE. 109 



CHAPTER XII. 

Marion in command at Sheldon — Stationed at Bacon's Bridge — Siege 
and fall of Charleston — How Marion escaped captivity — His retire- 
ment at St. John's — Infamous treatment of the South Carolinians 
by the British — Defeat of Buford — Clinton's proclamation — Coru- 
wallis left in command — His proceedings. 

When General Lincoln had withdrawn from the 
neighborhood of Savannah to Sheldon, he proceeded to 
Charleston, leaving Marion in command of the army. 
In a letter dated at Charleston, January 31st, 1780, 
Lincoln gives directions to Marion to organize a select 
body of two hundred of his best men, and to send off the 
remainder to Charleston. In February following Marion 
was ordered to Bacon's Bridge on Ashley river, near the 
capital, where a considerable force was being assembled 
under the command of Moultrie, destined for the defence 
of Charleston. While stationed at this post, Marion was 
actively engaged in disciplining the troops, in which 
department of military duty he was always remarkably 
successful. 

The danger which now threatened Charleston was by 
no means an imaginary one. The repulse of the French 
and American force at Savannah had been considered 
by the enemy a brilliant triumph. 



110 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

Clinton, on learning this success, determined finally 
to begin operations on a great scale in the southern 
states. Recent information showed them to be more 
defenceless, and the inhabitants better inclined to the 
dominion of the parent state, than those on the great 
northern theatre of war ; while their reduction might 
facilitate that of the others, or at all events preserve for 
Britain an important portion of her American territory. 
He had recently obtained a reinforcement from home, 
and had withdrawn the force hitherto stationed with little 
advantage upon Rhode Island. 

On the 26th of December, 1779, leaving Knyphausen 
w^ith troops sufficient to defend New York against the 
ill-organized army of Washington, be sailed with five 
thousand men for Savannah. The voyage was most 
tempestuous, and prolonged till the end of January; some 
of the vessels were wrecked, and nearly all the horses 
perished. He exerted himself actively to repair these 
losses ; and by the middle of February had re-embarked 
and landed on St. John's Island, near Charleston. Some 
time was spent in recruiting and reinforcing his troops 
and remounting his cavalry ; w^hile Lincoln was actively 
strengthening the garrison, and restoring the works 
w^hich since the memorable attack in June 1776, had 
fallen into almost complete decay. He succeeded in 
assembling above two thousand regulars, one thousand 
militia, and a great body of armed citizens ; but the chief 
hope, which was soon proved to be fallacious, rested on 
preventing the British from crossing the bar, as the fleet, 
under a favorable wind and tide, passed with scarcely 
any opposition. Lincoln then seriously deliberated on 



FALL OP CHARLESTON. Ill 

evacuating the place and saving his army ; but he dreaded 
popular reproach, and was buoyed up with promises of 
reinforcements that never arrived. On the 1st of April, 
Clinton crossed the Ashley, which, with Cooper River, 
incloses the peninsula of Charleston, and broke ground 
before the city. On the 9th, the first parallel was com- 
pleted, and the maritime blockade rendered very close ; 
yet the garrison still communicated with the country by 
their cavalry at Monk's Corner, about thirty miles up 
Cooper River. Colonel Tarleton, by a circuitous route, 
came upon this body so unexpectedly, that though they 
held their horses bridled and saddled, they were attacked 
before they had time to mount, routed, and completely 
dispersed. The British soon after received a reinforce- 
ment of three thousand ; when Lincoln seriously pro- 
posed an attempt to extricate his army ; but the principal 
inhabitants, entertaining a well founded dread of ill treat- 
ment from the captors, prevailed upon him only to offer 
a capitulation on condition of the garrison being still 
allowed to serve. This proposal was at once rejected ; 
the siege was steadily pushed ; all the outward posts 
successively fell ; two detachments of cavalry which 
had rallied were by the active movements of Tarleton 
again dissipated ; and the third parallel being completed, 
preparations were made for a general assault. Lincoln, 
then seeing his situation hopeless, submitted to the terms 
profi'ered by the enemy, that all the military stores should 
be given up, the regular troops made prisoners of war, 
while the militia, on giving their parole, might return 
and remain unmolested at their homes. The prisoners 
taken were stated bv (^linton nt five thousand six hundred 



112 LIFE OP GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

and eighteen, with one thousand seamen, and three hun- 
dred and eleven pieces of ordnance. 

Never was success more complete, nor which seemed 
more to assure the reunion to Britain of at least a large 
portion of her revolted colonies. With very small ex- 
ceptions, the whole military force stationed in the south- 
ern states, including all its means and implements of 
war, was at once captured. 

Fortunately for his country, Marion was not in the 
number of those who were made prisoners of war at the 
fall of Charleston. He was with his regiment in the 
city in the early part of the siege ; and on a certain day 
was invited to a dinner party, which he perceived was to 
become at the close a regular debauch, the host having 
locked the door of the dining-room to prevent any of the 
guests from withdrawing till a late hour. 

Marion, always averse to every species of intempe- 
rance, determined not to submit to this tyrannical spe- 
cies of hospitality, and, opening a window, jumped into 
the street. As the room was on the second floor, the 
height was considerable, and in coming to the ground 
he broke his ankle. He was thus totally unfitted for 
service, and General Lincoln having ordered the depar- 
ture of " all supernumerary ofiicers, and all officers unfit 
for duty," Marion was placed on a litter and carried to 
his plantation on St. John's Island. Here he was com- 
pelled to remain inactive, receiving intelligence from 
time to time of the disastrous progress of events. We 
may imagine the sorrow and indignation with which he 
heard of the events which followed the capture of 
Charleston. 



|!;ii|!||!i!i;|i|]i!|te 




M.VRIO.N'S ESCAPE FROM A DRLNKINO PARTY.— PAQE 112. 



PLUNDERING OF PROPERTY. 113 

South Carolina was treated as a conquered country, 
and not as a province reclaimed by a wise and just go- 
vernment. The terms on which the surrender had been 
made were grossly and mercilessly violated. The in- 
habitants were plundered of their property. Their 
wealth was seized wherever the enemy could lay their 
hands on it. Thousands of slaves were shipped to the 
West Indies and sold. The prisoners of war were con- 
fined in prison-ships, where in that hot climate they 
perished by hundreds. Others were sent to the West 
Indies and compelled to serve in the British regiments 
stationed there. 

Such were the proceedings of which Marion was obliged 
to hear reports, while suffering with the agony of his 
wound, which was very slow in healing. The military 
events which succeeded the fall of Charleston were not 
more encouraging. 

Sir Henry Clinton was aware of the impression his con- 
quest had made, and of the value of the first movements 
succeeding it. Calculating on the advantages to be de- 
rived from showing an irresistible force in various parts 
of the country at the same time, he made three large 
detachments from his army ; — the first and most consi- 
derable, towards the frontiers of North Carolina ; the 
second to pass the Saluda to Ninety-Six ; and the third 
up the Savannah towards Augusta. 

Lord Cornwallis, who commanded the northern detach- 
ment, received intelligence soon after passing the San- 
tee, that Colonel Buford,* with about four hundred men, 

* Mr. Sirams spells this name Beaufort. Lossing gives bis auto- 
graph Abm. Buford. 
8 



114 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

was retreating in perfect security towards North Caro- 
lina. He detached Lieutenant Colonel Tarleton with his 
legion, the infantry being mounted, in pursuit of this 
party. That officer, by making a movement of near one 
hundred miles in two days, overtook Buford, in a line of 
march at the Waxhaws, and demanded a surrender on the 
terms which had been granted to the garrison of Charles- 
ton. This was refused. While the flags were passing, 
Tarleton continued to make his dispositions for the as- 
sault, and, the instant the truce was over, his cavalry 
made a furious charge on the Americans, who had re- 
ceived no orders to engage, and who seem to have been 
uncertain whether to defend themselves or not. In this 
state of dismay and confusion, some fired on the assail- 
ants, while others threw down their arms and begged for 
quarter. None was given. Colonel Buford escaped 
with a few cavalry ; and about one hundred infantry who 
were in advance saved themselves by flight ; but the re- 
giment was almost demolished. Tarleton, in his offi- 
cial report, says that one hundred and thirteen were 
killed on the spot, one hundred and fifty so badly 
wounded as to be incapable of being moved, and fifty- 
three were brought away as prisoners. The loss of the 
British was five killed and fourteen wounded. 

After the defeat of Buford, scarcely the semblance of 
opposition remained in South Carolina and Georgia. 
The military force employed by congress was nearly 
destroyed ; the spirit of resistance seemed entirely broken ; 
and a general disposition to submit to the victor displayed 
itself in almost every part of the country. 



CLINTON S PROCLAMATION. 115 

The two other detachments saw no appearance of an 
enemy. They received the submission of the inhabitants, 
who either became neutral by giving their paroles not 
to bear arms against his Britannic Majesty, or took the 
oaths of allegiance, and resumed the character of British 
subjects. 

To keep up this disposition, garrisons were posted in 
different stations, and a series of measures was pursued 
for the purpose of settling the civil affairs of the province, 
and of giving stability to the conquest which had been 
made. 

So entirely did the present aspect of affairs convince 
Sir Henry Clinton of the complete subjugation of the 
state, and of the favorable disposition of the people 
towards the British government, that he ventured to issue 
a proclamation, (June 3,) in which he discharged the 
militia who were prisoners from their paroles, with the 
exception of those who were taken in Charleston and 
Fort Moultrie, and restored them to all the rights and 
duties of British subjects ; declaring, at the same time, 
that such of them as should neglect to return to their 
allegiance, should be considered and treated as enemies 
and rebels. 

This proclamation disclosed to the inhabitants their 
real situation. It proved that a state of neutrality was 
not within their reach ; that the evils of war were un- 
avoidable ; that they must arrange themselves on the one 
side or the other ; and that the only alternative presented 
to them was, to drive the enemy out of their country, or 
take up arms against their countrymen. 

With the most sanguine hopes that the southern 



116 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

states would be reunited to the British empire, Sir 
Henry Clinton embarked, (June 5,) for New York, leav- 
ing about four thousand British troops in South Caro- 
lina, under the command of Lord Cornwallis. 

His lordship found it necessary to suspend the expe- 
dition he had meditated against North Carolina. The 
impossibility of supporting an army in that state before 
harvest, as well as the intense heat of the season, re- 
quired this delay. His first care was to distribute his 
troops through South Carolina and the upper parts of 
Georgia, so as to promote the great and immediate ob- 
jects of enlisting the young men who were willing to join 
his standard, of arranging the plan of a militia, and of 
collecting magazines at convenient places. 

In the meantime he despatched emissaries to his 
friends in North Carolina, to inform them of the neces- 
sary delay of his expedition into their country, and to 
request them to attend to their harvest, collect provi- 
sions, and remain quiet until late in August, or early in 
September, when the king's troops would be ready to 
enter the province. 



f 



MARION LEAVES ST. JOHNS. 117 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Marion leaves St. Johns and takes shelter in the woods and swamps — 
Joins the Continental army in Xorth Carolina — Appearance of his 
men — Invited to Williamsburg — Appointed Brigadier General — 
Starts for Williamsburg — Gates's character — His defeat — Success 
and subsequent surprise and defeat of Sumter. 

The state of affairs now made it extremely dangerous 
for Marion to remain at his own plantation in St. Johns. 
His character for ability and patriotism was well known 
to both British and tories ; and both were on the alert 
to effect his capture. He was thus compelled to take 
shelter in the woods and swamps, among the patriotic 
friends to whom his character and services had endeared 
him ; and for several months he entirely disappeared from 
the scene of public action. 

Meantime a body of regular troops under Baron 
DeKalb, Avere on their march from Virginia, and we next 
hear of Marion with a few followers on his way to join 
this force. His old friend Colonel Peter Horry joined 
him on his route. His wound was still so imperfectly 
healed that he had to be lifted from his horse. But his 
cheerfulness and his strong hopes of the final triumph 
of liberty, were by no means abated. AVhen Horry, 
speaking of the state of affairs lamented that " their 
happy days were all gone," he replied that on the con- 



118 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

trar J they were yet to come ; that the brutal and oppres- 
sive treatment of the Carolinians, by the British and 
tories, would rouse a spirit of resistance, that would 
inevitably lead to the final triumph of the American 
arms. A generous policy, he said, might have bound 
the conquered states to Great Britain, but their present 
line of policy would certainly occasion the loss of these 
colonies to the mother country. 

Passing through a region of North Carolina every 
where infested with tories, Marion and Horry at length 
succeeded in joining the Continental army, of which 
General Gates had recently assumed the command, hav- 
ing superseded the Baron DeKalb. In the Continental 
camp they found General Sumter, who had already as- 
sembled a partisan force, and the energetic Governor 
Butledge of South Carolina, who had repaired to this 
part of the country, to reassure the people by his pre- 
sence and to obtain recruits. 

Marion's men, badly equipped and worn out with their 
long march, made a sorry appearance before the well 
appointed and handsomely dressed soldiers of the Con- 
tinental army. Colonel Otho Holland Williams, in a 
passage of his " Narrative of the Campaign of 1781," 
quoted by Mr Simms, thus describes the partisan 
troopers : 

He says, " Colonel Marion, a gentleman of South 
Carolina, had been with the army a few days, attended 
by a very few followers, distinguished by small leather 
caps, and the wretchedness of their attire ; their number 
did not exceed twenty m.en and boys, some white, some 
black, and all mounted, but most of them miserably 



MARION COMMISSIONED BRIGADIER GENERAL. 119 

equipped ; their appearance was in fact so burlesque, that 
it was with much difficulty the diversion of the regular 
soldiery was restrained by the officers ; and the General 
himself was glad of an opportunity of detaching Colonel 
Marion, at his own instance, towards the interior of South 
Carolina, with orders to watch the motions of the enemy 
and furnish intelligence."* 

It is a curious fact that the officers and soldiers who 
found so much food for mirth in the appearance of 
Marion's men, were destined a few days afterwards to 
suffer the most complete, disastrous, and inglorious defeat, 
inflicted by the British during the whole war, while the 
derided soldiers of Marion were to render the most effi- 
cient and important aid in recovering the southern states 
of the Union from the enemy. 

The cause of Marion's detachment from the main 
army, referred to above, was an invitation from the peo- 
ple of Williamsburg to join them and be their leader. 
This would take him at once into South Carolina in ad- 
vance of the main army, and open a wide field for his 
daring spirit of enterprise. Governor Rutledge encour- 
aged his acceptance of the invitation of the people of 
Williamsburg, and conferred upon him a commission as 
brigadier general. He accordingly took leave of General 
Gates and proceeded at once to his destination. 

General Gates was so inflated with the victory gained 
at Saratoga, that he anticipated a speedy and decisive 
triumphs over any British army which should be bold 
enough to encounter him. A careful review of the whole 
career of this officer, leads inevitably to the conclusion 
* Narrative of the Campaign of 1781, by Colouel Otho Williams, 



120 LIFE OF GENEEAL FRANCIS MARION. 

that he was a weak and vain man, and a very incapable 
commander. The noble General Schuyler had paved 
the way for the defeat of Burgoyne, had in fact insured 
that defeat, by his able and prudent measures, before 
Gates assumed the command ; and the severe fighting at 
Stillwater, was directed by the generals who fought 
under him. He had won at Saratoga splendid laurels 
which he had never earned. He was now to lose them 
in a single day. 

The expedition for the relief of the southern states 
had set out in March, under the command of Baron De 
Kalb. Gates had received his appointment to the com- 
mand from Congress, on the 3d of June ; but want of 
money, military stores, and provisions, had detained the 
army so long that though the expedition set out in 
March, it was the beginning of August before Gates 
could approach Camden, with about four thousand men, 
mostly militia. He advanced in the determination to 
push vigorously offensive operations, hoping to encounter 
and defeat Lord Rawdon. That officer, however, had 
given notice to Cornwallis, who hastened to the spot, 
and though his troops, from disease and other causes, had 
been reduced to little more than two thousand, he re- 
solved Avithout hesitation to attack. He had set out in 
the night of the 15th, with a view to surprise the Ame- 
ricans, when, by a singular concurrence, he met Gates 
in full march with the same design against himself. The 
advanced guard of the latter was driven in, when both 
parties thought it advisable to postpone the general ac- 
tion till daylight. In the American line, De Kalb, with 
most of the regulars, commanded on the right, while the 



GATES DEFEATED. 121 

militia of Carolina formed the centre, and that of Vir- 
ginia the left. The conflict began with the last, Avho 
were attacked by the British infantry, under Colonel 
Webster, with such impetuosity, that they threw down 
their arms and precipitately fled. The whole of the left 
and centre were very speedily ofi" the field, few having 
fired a shot, and still fewer carrying away a musket. 
Gates was borne along by the torrent, and after vain at- 
tempts to rally his men, gave up all for lost, and never 
stopped until he reached Charlotte, eighty miles distant. 
Meantime, De Kalb, on the right, opposed to Lord Raw- 
don, long and firmly maintained his ground, gaining 
even some advantage ; and it was not till the victorious 
divisions had wheeled round against him, that his corps 
was broken and dispersed. He himself, covered with 
wounds, became a captive, and, notwithstanding every 
care, expired in a few hours. About one thousand pri- 
soners were taken, and the whole army was scattered. 

We have already mentioned that Marion on arriving 
at the continental camp had met General Sumter. This 
brave partisan had subsequently obtained from Gates a 
reinforcernent to his own corps, of one hundred regular 
infantry and two brass field pieces, for the purpose of 
intercepting an escort of clothing, ammunition, and other 
stores, for the British garrison at Camden, which was on 
its way to Ninety-six, and must pass the Wateree at a 
ferry about a mile from Camden, which was covered by 
a small redoubt on the opposite side of the river. 

On his retreat, the day of the battle of Camden, Ge- 
neral Gates received information of the complete suc- 
cess of Sumter. That officer had, on the evening that 



122 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

Lord Cornwallis marched from Camden, reduced the re- 
doubt on the Wateree, captured the guard, and inter- 
cepted the escort with the stores. 

This gleam of light cheered the dark gloom which en- 
veloped his affairs but for a moment. He was soon 
informed that this corps also was defeated, and entirely 
dispersed. 

On hearing the disaster which had befallen Gates, 
Sumter began to retreat up the south side of the Wa- 
teree. Believing himself out of danger, he had halted 
on the twenty-eighth, during the heat of the day, near 
the Catawba Ford, to give his harassed troops some re- 
pose. At that place he was overtaken by Tarleton, who 
had been detached in pursuit of him on the morning of 
the 17th, and who, advancing with his accustomed cele- 
rity, entered the American camp so suddenly, as in a 
great measure to cut off the men from their arms. Some 
slight resistance made from behind the wagons was soon 
overcome, and the Americans fled precipitately to the 
river and woods. Between three and four hundred of 
them were killed and wounded ; their baggage, artillery, 
arms, and ammunition were lost ; and the prisoners and 
stores they had taken were recovered. This advantage 
was gained with the loss of only nine men killed and six 
wounded. 

Two videttes had been placed by Sumter on the road 
along which Tarleton had advanced, who fired upon his 
van and killed one of his dragoons, upon which they 
were both sabred. We are informed by Colonel Tarle- 
ton that the inquiries made by Sumter respecting the 
two shots, were answered by an assurance from an offi- 



MARCH TO HILLSBOROUGH. 123 

cer, just returned from the advanced sentries, that the 
militia were firing at cattle. 

Intelligence of this disaster reached Charlotte next 
day. Generals Smallwood and Gist were then arrived 
at that place ; and about one hundred and fifty strag- 
gling, dispirited, half-famished officers and soldiers had 
also dropped in. It was thought advisable to retreat 
immediately to Salisbury. From that place. General 
Gates directed the remnant of the troops to march to 
Hillsborough, where he was endeavoring to assemble an- 
other army which might enable him yet to contend for 
the southern states. 



124 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The people of Williamsburg — Their character and proceedings — Mis- 
sion of Major James to Captain Ardesoif — Bravery and patriotism 
of James — His report — Formation of Marion's brigade — McCottry 
and Tarleton — Marion takes the command — His character and ap- 
pearance at this time — State of the brigade — Arms made of mill- 
saws — Marion defeats Major Gainey and Captain Barfield — Cap- 
tures an escort of Maryland prisoners — They refuse to join the 
brigade — Their reasons — Atrocious instructions of Rawdon and 
Cornwallis to their officers — Marion's opinion. 

The people of Williamsburg, who had sent for Marion 
to be their leader, were chiefly descendants of Irish emi- 
grants ; and consequently earnest haters of British 
dominion. They lived in the tract of country between 
the Santee and Pedee, which now forms the district of 
Williamsburg, and a part of that of Marion. As the 
British forces had not yet penetrated into this part of 
the country, the inhabitants were not well informed re- 
specting the treatment of their compatriots in the lower 
districts, and they had been undecided what part they 
should take in what seemed to them to be merely a po- 
litical quarrel. They had received the proclamation of 
the British commander, claiming only neutrality and 
peaceable behavior on the part of the non-combatant 
portion of the people ; and they had also received the 



MAJOR JAMES AND ARDESOIF. 125 

proclamation issued only twenty days after, requiring the 
same persons to take up arms in hehalf of the British 
invaders. In an assemblage of citizens called to con- 
sider the measures necessary to be adopted for their own 
security, they determined to solve the doubts raised by 
these totally inconsistent proclamations, by sending one 
of their number to the nearest British authority to make 
inquiries and learn the real state of affairs and their own 
prospects. The delegate chosen was Major John James, 
who held his commission in their militia, and had repre- 
sented the district in the provincial assembly. 

Major James repaired to Georgetown, the nearest 
British post, then under command of Captain Ardesoif. 
Being admitted to an audience with this officer. Major 
James inquired what might be the meaning of British 
protection, and upon what terms the submission of the 
citizens was to be made. He was haughtily informed 
that the submission must be unconditional. He next in- 
quired whether the inhabitants were to be permitted to 
remain on their plantations ? The answer of Ardesoif 
was " No. His Majesty offers you a free pardon, of 
which you are undeserving ; for you all ought to be 
hanged ; but it is only on condition that you take up 
arms in his cause." Without evincing the slightest 
intimidation at this ominous announcement. Major James 
replied that " the people whom he came to represent 
would scarcely submit on such conditions." 

''■Represent !''' exclaimed Ardesoif in a violent rage, 

*' You d d rebel, if you dare speak in such language, 

I will have you hung up at the yard arm." 

Upon this. Major James seized the chair upon which 



126 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

he had heen sitting, knocked down the insolent official, 
hurried from the apartment, mounted his horse, and made 
his way to the secure asylum of the woods before any 
attempt to capture him could be made. 

His report to his constituents decided at once their 
course of action. Their real situation and prospects were 
now clearly enough defined, and the insult to their be- 
loved and popular representative set the whole district 
in a flame. That celebrated corps, "Marion's Brigade," 
was immediately organized. Four companies, com- 
manded respectively by Captains William McCottry, 
Henry Mouzon, John James, (cousin to the Major,) and 
John McCauley.* 

As Marion had not at this time arrived in the district, 
these companies were united under the command of Ma- 
jor James, and hostilities against the British and tories 
were at once commenced. Captain McCottry's company 
being sent forward in advance, encountered Colonel 
Tarleton, who, from hearing an excessive over-statement 
of McCottry's force, retreated before him, and still fur- 
ther inflamed the district of Williamsburg by the cruel- 
ties and plunderings which he committed on his re- 
treat. 

Meantime McCottry took post at Lynch's Creek, 
w^here he was joined by Marion, on the 14th of August, 
just four days before Gates's defeat at Camden. By 
virtue of his commission from Governor Rutledge, Gene- 
ral Marion now assumed the command of that " Bri- 
gade " which was destined to become so celebrated in 
the annals of the southern war. Perhaps it will not be 

* Simms. 




•MAJOIl JaMLS and CAPTAIX AUDtSOIi'. — rAGD 120. 



Marion's characteristics. 127 

inappropriate to insert in this place his character as 
described by General Henry Lee,"" who was subsequently 
associated with him in command of more than one suc- 
cessful expedition. He says: 

Marion was about forty-eight years of age, small in 
stature, hard in visage, healthy, abstemious, and taciturn. 
Enthusiastically wedded to the cause of liberty, he deeply 
deplored the doleful condition of his beloved country. 
The commonweal was his sole object ; nothing selfish, 
nothing mercenary, soiled his ermine character. Fertile 
in stratagem, he struck unperceived; and retiring to 
those hidden retreats, selected by himself, in the moras- 
ses of Pedee and Black rivers, he placed his corps not 
only out of the reach of his foe, but often out of the disco- 
very of his friends. t A rigid disciplinarian, he reduced 
to practice the justice of his heart ; and during the diffi- 
cult course of warfare, through which he passed, calumny 
itself never charged him with violating the rights of per- 

^ Memoirs of the War iu the Southern Department of the United 
States. 

f Lieutenant Colonel Lee was ordered to join Marion after Greene 
determined to turn the war back to South Carolina, in 1781. An 
officer, with a small party, preceded Lee a few days' march to find out 
Marion, who was known to vary his position in the swamps of Pedee : 
sometimes in Soath Carolina, sometimes in North Carolina, and some- 
times on the Black River. With the greatest difficulty did this officer 
learn how to communicate with the brigadier ; and that by the accident 
of hearing among our friends on the north side of the Pedee, of a 
small provision party of Marion'sbeing on the same side of the river. 
Making himself known to this party, he was conveyed to the General, 
who had changed his ground since his party left him, which occa- 
sioned many hours' search even before his own men could find him. 



128 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

son, property, or of humanity. Never avoiding danger, 
he never rashly sought it ; and acting for all around 
him as he did for himself, he risked the lives of his 
troops only when it was necessary. Never elated with 
prosperity, nor depressed by adversity, he preserved an 
equanimity which won the admiration of his friends, and 
exacted the resj^ect of his enemies. The country from 
Camden to the sea-coast, between the Pedee and Santee 
rivers, was the theatre of his exertions. 

And again Lee says : 

General Marion was in stature of the smallest size, 
thin as well as low. His visage was not pleasing, and 
his manners not captivating. He was reserved and 
silent, entering into conversation only when necessary, 
and then with modesty and good sense. 

He possessed a strong mind, improved by its own re- 
flections and observations, not by books or travel. His 
dress was like his address, — plain, regarding comfort 
and decency only. In his meals he was abstemious, 
eating generally of one dish, and drinking water 
mostly. 

He was sedulous and constant in his attention to the 
duties of his station, to which every other consideration 
yielded. Even the charms of the fair, like the luxuries 
of the table and the allurements of wealth,' seemed to be 
lost upon him. 

The procurement of subsistence for his men, and the 
contrivance of annoyance to his enemy, engrossed his 
entire mind. He was virtuous all over ; never, even in 
manner, much less in reality, did he trench upon right. 
Beloved by his friends, and respected by his enemies, he 



A DESTITUTE BRIGADE. 129 

exhibited a luminous example of the beneficial effects to 
be produced by an individual, who, with only small 
means at his command, possesses a virtuous heart, a 
strong head, and a mind devoted to the common good. 

On taking command of the brigade, General Marion 
found it to be composed of volunteer militia, most of 
them quite unarmed. To remedy this deficiency, " He 
took saws from the mills," says Moultrie, " and set 
smiths to work, to turn them into horsemen's swords." 
From this expedient, the destitution of the brigade and 
the desperate means resorted to for arming and supply- 
ing them in other respects may be conjectured. 

Two daj^s after joining the brigade, Marion surprised 
and defeated a body of tories commanded by Major 
Gainey, at Britton's Neck. On this occasion Major 
James pursuing Gainey in his flight, rode far beyond the 
support of his men, but extricated himself by turning back 
on his horse, waving his sword and calling out, as if his 
men were close behind him, ^'Come on, boys, here they 
are," and then dashing in amongst the tories, who 
speedily resumed their rapid retreat. 

The next day after this occurrence, Marion defeated 
another band of tories under Captain Barfield, having 
drawn him from a strong position by feigning a retreat. 

When Marion heard of the defeat of Gen. Gates, he was 
on his march to the upper Santee. He concealed the news 
from his men, lest it should discourage them ; and they 
were unapprized of it until the 20th of August, when 
Marion fell upon an escort of prisoners bound from 
Camden to Charleston, wdien, according to his own des- 
9 



130 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

patch,* he " killed and took 22 regulars and two tories 
prisoners, and retook 150 continentals of the Maryland 
line, one wagon and a drum ; one captain and a subal- 
tern were also captured. Our loss is one killed, and 
Captain Benson slightly wounded in the head." 

Moultrie says, at this time Marion had but thirty 
militia with him, with these he released the prisoners, 
and retreated to Britton's Neck, on the Pedee river, to 
be farther from the enemy, and in hopes of being joined 
by more of the militia, and to get the released prisoners 
armed, but they absolutely refused to stay any longer 
with him : so gloomy were American affairs at this time 
that very few would join him ; and the tories were now 
gathering from all quarters. 

It is not surprising that the continentals of the Mary- 
land line should prefer returning home to joining Ma- 
rion's brigade ; for their own province was comparatively 
free from annoyance by the enemy, while South Carolina 
literally afforded no secure shelter to her most peacefully 
inclined inhabitants. The following letter of Lord Raw- 
don shows the treatment to which they were naturally 
subjected as early as July 1780 : 

LORD RAWDON TO MAJOR RUGELY. 

Head-Quarters, Camden, 1 July, 1780. 
Sir, — So many deserters from this army have passed 
with impunity through the districts, which are under your 
direction, that I must necessarily suspect the inhabitants 
to have connived at, if not facilitated their escape. If 
attachment to their sovereign will not move the country 

* Simms. 



RAWDON TO RUGELT. 131 

people to check a crime so detrimental to lils service, it 
must be my care to urge them to their duty as good sub- 
jects, by using invariable severity towards every one, 
who shall show so criminal a neglect of the public interest. 
I am, therefore. Sir, to request of you, that you will 
signify, to all within the limits of your command, my firm 
determination in this case. If any person shall meet a 
soldier straggling without a written pass beyond the 
pickets, and shall not do his utmost to secure him, or 
shall not spread an alarm for that purpose, or if any 
person shall give shelter to soldiers straggling as above 
mentioned, or shall serve them as a guide, or shall furnish 
them with horses, or any other assistance, the persons so 
offending may assure themselves of rigorous punishment, 
either by whipping, imprisonment, or by being sent to 
serve his Majesty in the AYest Indies, according as I shall 
think the degree of criminality may require. I have 
ordered, that every soldier who passes the pickets, shall 
submit himself to be examined by any of the militia, who 
have any suspicion of him. If a soldier, therefore, at- 
tempts to escape when ordered by the militia-man to 
stop, he is immediately to be fired upon as a deserter. 
Single men of the light horse need not to be examined, 
as they may often be sent alone upon expresses. Nor 
is any party of infantry with a non-commissioned officer 
at the head of it to be stopped. 

I will give the inhabitants ten guineas for the head of 
any deserter belonging to the volunteers of Ireland ; and 
five guineas only if they bring him in alive. They shall 
likewise be rewarded, though not to that amount, for 



132 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

such deserters as they may secure belonging to any other 

regiment. I am confident that you will encourage the 

country people to be more active in this respect. I am, 

Sir, with much esteem, &c. 

Rawdon. 

After Gates's defeat, Cornwallis writes thus : ' 

LORD CORNWALLIS TO LIEUTENANT-COLONEL NESBITT 
BALFOUR, COMMANDANT AT NINETY-SIX. 

August, 1780. 
I have given orders, that all the inhabitants of this 
province, who have subscribed and have taken part in 
this revolt, should be punished with the greatest rigor, 
and also those, who will not turn out, that they may be 
imprisoned, and their whole property taken from them 
or destroyed. I have likewise ordered, that compensation 
should be made out of their estates to the persons, who 
have been injured and oppressed by them. I have 
ordered in the most positive manner, that every militia- 
man, who has borne arms with us, and afterwards joined 
the enemy, shall be immediately hanged. I desire you 
will take the most rigorous measures to punish the rebels 
in the district in which you command, and that you will 
obey, in the strictest manner, the directions I have 
given in this letter relative to the inhabitants of this 
country. 

Cornwallis. 

When the reader recollects that these letters repre- 
sent what was now actually taking place all around 
him, he will not be surprised at the opinion so often ex- 



MARION'S OPINION. 133 

pressed by Marion, that siich treatment was more than 
human nature could bear ; and that it would ultimately 
cause the loss of the southern states by Great Britain. 
At a little later period even the atrocities authorized in 
these letters of Rawdon and Cornwallis, were far ex- 
ceeded by both British and tories. Marion all the while 
declaring, that although the medicine was harsh, it would 
ultimately cure the country effectually of all remains of 
toryism."*" 

* We have quoted above the whole of Lord Cornwallis's letter, 
in order that the reader may appreciate the utter baseness of his con- 
duct. Rawdou's letter, written by Cornwallis's orders, had been cruel 
and oppressive enough ; but Cornwallis's letter is still worse — Why ? 
Because he had just defeated Gates ; and apparently cut off all 
hope of succor from the south. The Carolinians were now entirely 
helpless and entirely in his power. Therefore, he proceeds to mur- 
der, rob, and oppress them to the utmost. Could human baseness 
exceed this ? 



134 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARIOIT. 



CHAPTEH XY. 

Marion's activity — Colonel Wemyss sent in pursuit of him — Marion 
retreats to North Carolina — Cruelties, murders, and burnings by 
Wemyss — Marion returns to South Carolina — Defeats Captain Ball 
at Black Mingo — Deliberates on joining General Greene — Surprises 
Colonel Tynes and captures valuable arms and stores — Cornwallis 
sends Tarleton to capture Marion — He is foiled, and returns with- 
out meeting him — Marion's brother killed by a tory — Marion en- 
tertains a British officer at Snow's Island. 

Marion's pursuit of the British and tories was active 
and incessant. Nothing could discourage him or damp 
the ardor of his patriotism. Neither was his activity re- 
laxed by the want of ammunition and supplies, nor even 
by the frequent almost entire dispersion of his force, 
occasioned by the necessity his men were under to leave 
him temporarily in order to attend to the wants of their 
suffering families. 

Moultrie says, he frequently engaged when he had 
only three or four rounds to a man ; his little party 
would sometimes be reduced to five and twenty men — as 
is common with militia, they grow tired, and have a pre- 
tence to go home, or sometimes without any pretence at 
all ; he was very troublesome to Major Wemyss, who 
had taken post on Pedee, with a detachment of British 
troops, and had burned a number of the inhabitant's 



Marion's activity. 135 

houses on Pedee, Black river, and Lynch s creek, sup- 
posing the owners had joined General Marion. The 
British, by their impolitic conduct, recruited General 
Marion's little party very fast, who always lay in the 
woods, in the most unfrequented places, with nothing 
but their blanket to cover themselves ; he had his scouts 
out constantly, and when they brought him intelligence 
(which they frequently did) of any small party of the 
enemy, or any escorts with stores, he sallied out, and 
was sure to have them. Lord Cornwallis was heard to 
say, " That he would give a good deal to have him 
taken." And always praised him as a good partisan 
officer.* 

Major "Wemyss, mentioned in the above extract, was 
sent in pursuit of Marion. Marion had but 150 men, 
and Wemyss's force was a British regiment, 300 men, 
and a body of 500 tories. When they approached 
Marion's position. Major James being sent out to recon- 
noitre, attacked Wemyss's rear and made some prison- 
ers ; but his report of the greatly superior force of the 
enemy made a retreat indispensable. 

Retaining only sixty men and sending the rest home, 
to be reassembled at a future call, Marion now marched 
into North Carolina. He thus left the Williamsburg 
district to be ravaged by Wemyss as mentioned above. 

* General Marion and myself entered the field of Mars together, in 
an expedition against the Cherokee Indians, under the command of 
Colonel James Grant, in 1761 ; when I had the honor to command a 
light infantry company, in a provincial regiment; he was my first 
lieutenant — he was an active, brave, and hardy soldier, and an excel- 
lent partisan officer. — Moultrie's Memoirs. 



136 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

It was a hard necessity ; but the ultimate effect of the se- 
verities practiced by Wemyss, was to confirm the suffer- 
ers in their resistance to the British, and to send new 
recruits to the standard of Marion. 

On his march, Marion, finding himself rather encum- 
bered by two field pieces, wheeled them into a swamp, 
and there left them as totally unsuited to his rapid 
movements and his quick and decisive methods of attack 
and retreat. Penetrating into North Carolina, Marion 
fixed his camp on the east side of the White Marsh, near 
the head of Waccamaw river. From this position he 
sent numerous scouts into South Carolina to watch and 
report the movements of the enemy. Their accounts of 
the plunderings, burnings, and massacres of Wemyss, 
of the effect on the inhabitants, and of the desire of the 
militia of Williamsburg for his presence and aid, decided 
Marion to return, and he re-entered South Carolina by 
a forced march. 

At Lynch' s creek he was reinforced by Captains 
James and Mouzon, with a considerable body of men. 
Learning that Wemyss had retired to Georgetown, and 
that a large body of tories under Captain Ball was at 
Black Mingo, 15 miles below, he instantly set off to at- 
tack them. The attack took place at midnight ; but the 
surprise was not complete. The noise made by his 
horses in crossing a bridge over the Black Mingo river, 
alarmed the enemy, and enabled them to form and re- 
ceive the assailants with a smart fire. But Marion had 
made his dispositions for surrounding them, and they 
took flight in the neighboring swamps. In the brief 
action, Captain Logan was killed and Captain Mouzon 



MARION CAPTURES TYNES. 137 

and Lieutenant Scott severely wounded. The tories 
were twice as numerous as Marion's force. After this 
affair, when he had to cross a bridge by night, he always 
took care to cover it with blankets. In ge*neral he- pre- 
ferred fording the streams to passing over bridges at 
all. 

General Greene having superseded Gates, was now 
approaching Camden, the chief post of the British in the 
interior, and Marion deliberated on joining him. Hugh 
Horry and others of his officers opposed this measure. 
Just then, new recruits beginning to come, Marion for- 
tunately decided to retain his separate command, and 
fight the enemy in his own peculiar way. 

Marion's next exploit was the surprise and capture of 
Colonel Tynes at Nelson's plantation on the Black river. 
By this successful stroke he possessed himself of a large 
supply of new and excellent arms, provisions, and stores, 
which Tynes had brought into the country, for the use 
of the great force of tories which he expected to raise 
in that part of the province. This was a seasonable and 
very acceptable acquisition to Marion's men. 

Cornwallis, annoyed and alarmed by the bold and 
successful attacks of Marion on his scattered posts, now 
sent out his best cavalry officer. Colonel Tarleton, to effect 
his capture. 

Colonel Tarleton, says a late writer, left the room to 
which he had been confined by sickness in Charleston, 
and placed himself at the head of his dragoons with the 
firm resolve not to yield the pursuit until he had secured 
the enemy. Marion watched his course, and adopted his 
own with ceaseless caution. At the plantation of General 



138 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARIOIT. 

Richardson, the English partisan believed his triumph 
complete. Marion was at a wood-yard within a mile of 
him ; but warned by the flames of the general's house 
that his pui'suer was near, he took to flight, and when 
Tarleton arrived he was filled with rage on finding that 
the prize was gone. Through forests and swamps, thorny 
hedges, and tangled undergrowth, he followed the retreat- 
ing troops, but never came near enough to strike a blow. 
At length, on arriving at Benbow's ferry on Black River, 
Marion determined to make a stand. The ferry was 
rapid and dangerous, and behind him was Ox Swamp, 
through which only three passes were practicable. His 
men were perfectly familiar with the localities, and having 
thrown up a breastwork of logs, and made other defences, 
they prepared their rifles for the English dragoons. Had 
- Tarleton attempted to carry their position, he would, in 
the language of Judge James, " have exposed his force to 
such sharp-shooting as he had not yet experienced, and 
that in a place where he could not have acted with either 
his artillery or cavalry." But he prudently turned back ; 
he has himself informed us that his retreat was caused by 
an order brought by express from Cornwallis ; but a well- 
founded suspicion may be indulged, that he had painful 
doubts as to the results of a conflict under these circum- 
stances. At the risk of violating the rules of good taste, 
we will give his own words, stated to have been uttered on 
reaching the borders of Ox Swamp. "Come, boys," he 
said, "let us go back. We will soon find the game cocJc;"^ 
but as for this swamp fox the devil himself could not 
catch him." The devil would certainly have been a very 

* General Sumter. 



CAMP ON snow's island. 139 

appropriate comrade for Colonel Tarleton in his partisan 
excursions through the Carolinas. 

In addition to the successes of Marion, about this time 
occurred two battles in which the cause of freedom tri- 
umphed. General Sumter, on the banks of Tyger river, 
defeated a superior force of British troops, killing ninety- 
two, and wounding one hundred, while only three Ame- 
ricans were slain, and three wounded. But among the 
latter was Sumter himself, who was long disabled by a 
severe wound in the breast. At King's Mountain the 
British under Major Ferguson were totally defeated, and 
the hopes of America began again to rise. Marion planned 
an attack upon Georgetown which had long been held by 
a British garrison ; but in consequence of mismanagement 
Dn the part of his subordinates, the attempt failed entirely. . 
He now retired to his favourite retreat on Snow's Island, 
which lay at the point where Lynch's creek and the 
Pedee river unite. Here the camp of the partisan was 
regularly established, and it was a spot admirably suited 
to his purposes. Running water enclosed it on all sides, 
and the current of Lynch's creek was almost always en- 
cumbered by drifting logs and timber. Deep swamps 
formed the borders of the island, and in the cane-brakes 
great quantities of game and live-stock might generally 
be found. The middle part was more elevated, and covered 
with tall forest trees ; here Marion established his strong- 
hold, and increased the natural defences of the island by 
diligent labor. From this retreat he could sally out in 
any direction, and by sudden strokes astonish the tories 
who were gathering in aid of the British power.* 
* Washington and the Generals of the Revolution. 



140 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

It was during his stay at Snow's Island that Marion 
suffered a domestic calamity of a very trying and afflict- 
ing nature. His young brother, Gabriel Marion, was 
captured and murdered by the tories, while serving on a 
patrol under Lieutenant Gordon. The murderer was 
subsequently taken by Horry, and while being brought 
into camp was shot by a person who escaped detection 
under cover of the night. Although suffering the severest 
affliction for the loss of his brother, Marion expressed 
the strongest indignation at the irregular manner in 
which his murderer had been punished. 

While lying at Snow's Island a mutinous spirit was 
shown by one of his own officers, but it was promptly 
suppressed by the decision of Marion. Another incident 
occurred which has often been recounted, and which has 
been regarded as worthy to furnish the subject for an his- 
torical painting. An exchange of prisoners having been 
agreed upon, a young English officer was sent from George- 
town to complete the arrangement with Marion. On 
arriving near the camp, he was carefully blindfolded, and 
was thus conducted into the presence of the American 
general. When the bandage was removed, he saw before 
him a scene for which he was not prepared. Lofty trees 
surrounded him, casting a sombre shade over all objects 
beneath them : under these were lying in listless groups 
the men belonging to the renowned partisan brigade. 
Active forms and limbs, giving promise of great muscular 
power, were clad in rude costumes which had already 
seen much service. Rifles and sabres were seen among 
the trees, and horses were around ready for instantaneous 
motion. Before him stood Marion himself, small in 



THE DINNER PARTY, 141 

stature, slight in person, dark and swarthy in complexion, 
with a quiet aspect but a brilliant and searching eye. 
Scarcely could the officer believe that this was indeed the 
great man whose name had spread terror among all the 
enemies of liberty in southern America. After the busi- 
ness before them had been properly arranged, the English- 
man was about to retire, but Marion pressed him to stay 
to dinner. The bewildered officer looked round him in 
vain for table or plates, knives or forks, roast-meats or 
savoury vegetables ; but his suspense was soon to termi- 
nate. Sweet potatoes yet smoking from the ashes were 
placed upon a piece of bark and set before the American 
general and his guest. This was the dinner, and while 
the officer pretended to eat, he asked many questions. 
" Doubtless this is an accidental meal ; you live better in 
general." " No," was the reply, ''we often fare much 
worse." " Then I hope at least you draw noble pay to 
compensate ?" '' Not a cent, sir," replied Marion, "not 
a cent !" Lost in amazement, the messenger returned to 
Georgetown, and when questioned as to his seriousness, 
he declared that he had much cause to be serious, " he 
had seen an American general and his officers without 
pay, and almost without clothes, living on roots and 
drinking water, and all for liberty ! Whaj; chance have 
we against such men ?" In this rude scene might be 
found one of the most glorious triumphs of the American 
Revolution. It is said that this young officer resigned 
his commission, and never afterwards served during the 
war. 



142 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 



CHAPTEK XYI. 

Greene succeeds Gates — Battle of the Cowpens — Lee and Marion at- 
tack Georgetown — Escape of Watson — Marion organizes four new 
companies — Operations of Horry and Postell — Battle of Guilford — 
Colonels Watson and Doyle sent to drive Marion out of the coun- 
try — Affair of Peter Horry — Colonel Tynes defeated — Major Mc- 
Ilraith encountered by Marion— Proposal to fight — Backing out — 
Encounters of Colonel Watson and Marion — Watson driven into 
Georgetown — Doyle plunders Marion's camp at Snow's Island and 
escapes to Camden — Marion's council with his oSQcers. 

Since the defeat of General Gates, the war in South 
Carolina had been carried on chiefly by Marion and 
Sumter, , and the vigor and perseverance with which 
they had proceeded, reanimated the hopes of Washing- 
ton and the Continental Congress of recovering the pro- 
vinces of North Carolina and Georgia. General Greene 
had been appointed to succeed Gates, in the command 
of the southern continental army ; and he had assumed 
the command at Charlotte, which, since Gates's defeat, 
had been the head quarters of the army. 

Soon after his arrival in camp, he was gratified with 
the intelligence of a small piece of good fortune obtained 
by the address of Lieutenant Colonel Washington. 

Smallwood, having received information that a body 



A SHAM CANNON. 143 

of royal militia had entered the country in which he 
foraged, for the purpose of intercepting his wagons, de- 
tached Morgan and Washington against them. Intelli- 
gence of Morgan's approach being received, the party 
retreated ; but Colonel Washington, being able to move 
with more celerity than the infantry, resolved to make 
an attempt on another party, which was stationed at 
Rugely's farm, within thirteen miles of Camden. He 
found them posted in a logged barn, strongly secured 
by abattis, and inaccessible to cavalry. Force being of 
no avail, he resorted to the following stratagem : Hav- 
ing painted the trunk of a pine, and mounted it on a 
carriage so as to resemble a field piece, he paraded it in 
front of the enemy, and demanded a surrender. The 
whole party, consisting of one hundred and twelve men, 
with Colonel Rugely at their head, alarmed at the pros- 
pect of a cannonade, surrendered themselves prisoners 
of war. 

To narrow the limits of the British army, and to en- 
courage the inhabitants, Greene detached Morgan west 
of the Catawba, with orders to take a position near the con- 
fluence of the Pacolet with the Broad river. His party 
consisted of rather more than three hundred chosen con- 
tinental troops, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel How- 
ard, of Maryland, of Washington's regiment of light 
dragoons, amounting to about eighty men, and of two 
companies of militia from the northern and western parts 
of Virginia, commanded by Captains Triplet and Taite, 
which were composed almost entirely of old continental 
soldiers. He was also to be joined on Broad river by 



144 LIFE or GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

seven or eiglit hundred volunteers and militia, com- 
manded by General Davidson, and by Colonels Clarke 
and Few. 

After making tbis detachment, Greene, for the pur- 
pose of entering a more plentiful country, advanced 
lower down the Pedee, and encamped on its east side, 
opposite the Cheraw hills. Lord Cornwallis remained 
at Wynnsborough, preparing to commence active opera- 
tions, so soon as he should be joined by Leslie. 

Supposing Morgan to have designs on Ninety-Six, 
Cornwallis detached Tarleton with a considerable force 
to cut him off. Morgan retreated as far as the Cowpens, 
where he made a stand, and being attacked by Tarleton, 
inflicted upon him the severest defeat he had yet en- 
countered. (Jan. 17th, 1781.) 

Seldom has a battle in which greater numbers were 
not engaged, been so important in its consequences as 
that of the Cowpens. Lord Cornwallis was not only 
deprived of a fifth of his numbers, but lost a most pow- 
erful and active part of his army. Unfortunately, 
Greene was not in a condition to press the advantage. 
The whole southern army did not much exceed two 
thousand men, a great part of whom were militia. 

After the battle, passing Broad river, Morgan has- 
tened to the Catawba, which he reached on the 23d of 
January, at Sherald's ford, and encamped on its eastern 
bank. 

While Morgan remained on the Catawba, watching 
the motions of the British army, and endeavoring to 
collect the militia. General Greene arrived, and took 
command of the detachment. 



Greene's correspondexce with mariox. 145 

In his camp on the Pedee, opposite the Cheraw hills, * 
Greene had been joined by Lee's legion, amounting to 
about one hundred cavalry, and one hundred and twenty 
infantry. The day after his arrival he was ordered to 
join Marion for the purpose of attempting to carry a 
British post at Georgetown, distant about seventy-five 
miles from the American army. 

General Greene had commenced a correspondence 
with Marion on the day of his arrival at Charlotte, and 
had desired his aid in collecting information respecting 
the force and positions of the enemy, by means of spies 
and scouts ; a species of service for which Marion was 
particularly fitted ; and Marion had written to him for a 
reinforcement to enable him to capture the British gar- 
rison at Georgetown, a favorite object of his at this time. 
Moultrie* thus describes the attack on this post : 

On January 25th, 1781, General Marion w^ith his bri- 
gade of militia, retired to Snow's Island and was there / 
joined by Colonel Lee with his legion. Colonel Lee 
formed a plan to surprise Georgetown, which was garri- 
soned with about three hundred regular troops, and 
some militia, under the command of Colonel Campbell. 
Captain Carnes and Captain Rudulph, with about ninety 
(mostly of Lee's infantry) were sent down from Snow's 
Island, about forty miles from Georgetown, in a large 
boat, to drop down the river, towards the town, while 
General Marion and Colonel Lee were to have come 
down with the main body by land. Just before day- 
break, on the second day, Captain Carnes w^ith his 
party, landed at Mitchell's Point, about a quarter of a 

* Memoirs. 
10 



146 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

mile to the east of the town ; they landed and marched 
on a bank through the rice field, and were in the town a 
little before daylight. The British knew nothing of them, 
until they were alarmed by a few popping shots, and 
then very great confusion ensued ; the officers 'running 
about for the men, and tlie men for the ofiicers ; in this 
hurry and confusion, the guides got so alarmed and 
frightened that they lost their way to the fort, where the 
inain body of the British were quartered, or else the sur- 
prise would have been complete. A party went to Col. 
Campbell's quarters, took him out of bed, and carried 
him off without any other clothes than his shirt, to about 
a quarter of a mile on the back of the town, through 
bushes and briers ; he begged and entreated so much 
that they would allow him to go back and be paroled 
to Charlestown ; after a little time they had compassion 
upon him, and sufi'ered him to go back upon parole. By 
this time the enemy began to embody, and the firing was 
heard from different parts of the town, and General Ma- 
rion and Colonel Lee not entering the town at the same 
time, Captains Carnes and Rudulph thought it advisable 
to retreat. Had the guides not missed their way to the 
fort, it is more than probable this little detachment 
would have taken the whole garrison prisoners ; some 
few men were killed on both sides. The cavalry under 
General Marion and Colonel Lee did not arrive, and as 
they met with a breast-work not easily to be mounted, 
they proceeded no further, particularly as the infantry 
had already retreated. 

Although this attack was not successful, its boldness 
struck terror into the enemy, and prevented the removal 



MARION'S ACTIVITY. 147 

of more forces from Charleston into the interior. It was 
followed by other more successful attacks on the British 
posts which were established in different parts of South 
Carolina. -' 

Marion and Lee now proceeded up the Santee toward* 
Nelson's Ferry to surprise Colonel Watson, who had 
taken post there ; but that officer, leaving a garrison of 
eighty men in Fort "Watson, five miles above Kelson's 
Ferry, retreated to Camden. 

Lee being now ordered to join General Greene with 
his whole legion, Marion was again left to his own re- 
sources. This occasioned no diminution in his activity. 
On the 29th of January he sent out two detachments of 
only thirty men each, under Colonel and Major Postell, 
who were very successful in beating up the enemy's 
quarters, capturing prisoners, and destroying baggage 
wagons and stores. 

For want of ammunition indispensable for infantry 
operations, Marion now organized four new companies 
of cavalry, and again had recourse to his old expedient 
of having broadswords made out of mill-saws. This body 
he placed under the command of Colonel Peter Horry, 
who soon after attacked and routed a party of British 
dragoons under Colonel Campbell, near the great Wac- 
camaw road. 

About the same time, Major John Postell with twenty- 
eight militia surprised and captui'ed Captain Depeyster 
with twenty-nine grenadiers. 

Captain Postell being sent into the British camp with 
a flag, and detained as a prisoner, upon a charge of 
breaking his parole, Marion demanded his release and 



148 LIFE OF OENERAL FRANCIS MARION^ 

tlirofitcnod reprisals. ITo oven seized Captain Merritt 
tlie bearer of a British Hag, ami confined him as a security 
for Postell. 

Meantime Greene's celebrated retreat into North 
Carolina and escape from the superior force of Cornwallis 
took place, Avhich was followed by the battle of Guilford; 
(15th ^larcli 1781 :) on -which occasion the British kept 
the field, but Greene reaped the fruits of victory, as the 
loss of Cornwallis in the battle was so severe that he was 
compelled to retreat immediately ; and this was the com- 
mencement of a series of false moves and disasters which 
terminated only with his capture at Yorktown. 

Meantime, while Cornwallis with the main army of the 
British was engaged with Greene in North Carolina, 
jNIarion's was the only force which was actively operating 
against the enemy in South Carolina. He cut off detach- 
ments and supplies intended for the main army, and 
scoured the country from the confluence of the Congaree 
down to Monk's Corner, in the immediate neighborhood 
of Charleston, and sent terror and dismay into the tory 
settlements throughout that region. 

Marion's active mode of carrying on the war was ex- 
ceedingly distasteful to Cornwallis, Rawdon, and the other 
British commanders. It interfered with all their plans 
for insuring and perpetuating their possession of the 
southern country. They had military posts established 
in different part§ of North and South Carolina ; and 
Marion's rapid movements and secret expeditions cut off 
the communication between their posts, and threw their 
whole system of government and military surveillance 



cIjefeat of gaixey. 149 

into confusion. It therefore became an object witPi them 
to capture or expel him from the country at all hazards. 

Accordingly Colonel Watson was detached with a body 
of five hundred men to pursue and destroy or drive him 
out of the country. In the meantime Colonel Peter 
Ilorry, being engaged in beating up the enemy's quarters 
in the neighborhood of Georgetown, became engaged in 
a skirmish in which ?ie got separated from his party and 
narrowly escaped being shot by the Tory captain, Lewis. 
His life was saved by a boy named Gwin, who shot Lewis 
as he was taking aim at the Colonel. The enemy wag 
defeated with heavy loss, and the commander Major 
Gainey, taking flight on horseback, was pursued by 
Sergeant McDonald, who thrust his bayonet into Gainey 'a 
back and left it there, the major escaping into George- 
town, at full speed, with the bayonet still sticking in the 
hinder part of hLs person. 

Colonel Tynes, who as we have seen had been captured 
by Marion, had escaped from confinement in North 
Carolina, raised a small force of tories, and was approach- 
ing Marion's camp, when Marion surprised and routed 
him, taking the whole party prisoners. He was sent 
again to North Carolina, and again escaped and took 
the field. Colonel Horry being sent against him, was 
obliged to abandon the enterprise in consequence of his 
men being amply supplied with apple-brandy by a cun- 
ning tory, and getting incontinently drunk. 

In February Marion went in pursuft of a party com- 
manded by Major Mcllraith near Nelson's Ferry. He 
overtook and attacked him near Half-way Swaiop. 
After some skirmishing the major posted himself within 



150 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

an enclosure on the west of the road, and Marion pitched 
his camp on the edge of a pond on the east side. Mc- 
Ilraith now sent a flag to Marion complaining of his 
irregular mode of warfare, and challenging him to a fight 
in the open field. Marion replied that the British practices 
of burning houses, hanging prisoners, &c., were worse 
than his shooting piquets ; and that he should continue 
to retaliate. Meantime he had no objection to a contest 
between twenty pitched men of his party opposed to the 
same number of British. 

The challenge was accepted and the men paraded 
ready for the fight, when the British champions were 
suddenly recalled to the main body. The Am.ericans 
gave them three cheers as they retired, but not a shot 
was fired. Mcllraith, on the night succeeding this in- 
glorious affjxir, secretly decamped and made his escape to 
•V^ a stronghold at Singleton's Mill. Marion was not very 
anxious to capture him, as he had learnt that he was the 
most humane of all the British commanders, treating the 
people with forbearance, and committing no unnecessary 
destruction of property or life. 

On the first of March Colonel Watson left Fort 
V Watson with five hundred regulars and a formidable force 
of tory auxiliaries, determined to capture or destroy or 
drive out of the country, the most troublesome enemies 
in it — -Marion and his men. He marched down the 
'^ Santee towards Marion's stronghold on Snow's Island. 
At the same time Colonel Doyle with another British 
regiment marched for McCallum's Ferry on his way down 
Jeffers' Creek to the Pedee, where he was to unite his 
force with Watson's. 



WATSON WRITES TO MARION. 151 

Every thing promised well for the success of this 
enterprise, so far as the great force of the British was 
concerned. Marion's handful of troopers could not meet 
them in a pitched battle, of course. They numbered but 
three hundred, and their enemies were not less than five 
times that number, all told. But Marion, far from being 
discouraged at this great superiority, took the initiative 
in the contest. Constantly apprised, by his numerous 
scouts, of ATatson's movements, he chose his own time 
and place for assailing him in his own fashion. He first 
attacked him at "\Yiboo swamp between Nelson's and 
Murray's ferries. The contest with the tories who were 
in the advance was severe and protracted, ending in the 
total dispersion of these irregular troops, who sought 
shelter with the main body of regulars. 

This answered Marion's purpose for the present. He 
drew off on the approach of the main body, and retired 
to a safe distance. On the next day he retreated, and 
Watson pursued. At Mount Hope Watson had a similar 
affair with a detachment of Marion's men, under Colonel 
Horry ; and again his attempt to pass a bridge over 
the Santee, was successfully resisted by Major James 
with a detachment of McCottry's rifles, notwithstanding 
Watson's artillery and his greatly superior force. The 
sharpshooting of Marion's men was terrifying, Watson 
declared that " he never had seen such shooting in his 
life." 

He vrrote to Marlon, bitterly complaining of his mode 
of warfare, and daring him to come out and fight him 
like a gentleman and a Christian. As he called Marion's 
men, "banditti and mui'derers," in this missive, he got 



1/ 



152 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

no answer to it. But Sergeant McDonald, whose clothes 
had been taken bj the enemy, sent a message by Watson's 
flag that if they were not returned he would kill eight of 
his men. The clothes were forthwith returned. When 
McDonald received them, he said to the bearer, " Tell 
Colonel Watson, I will now kill but four of his men." 
He began with Lieutenant Torriano whom he shot 
through the knee two days after, at the distance of three 
hundred yards. 

Marion's rifles still deterred Watson from crossing the 
river ; but he sent over detachments of light troops who 
drove Watson to Blakeley's plantation, where he formed 
a camp, and remained for ten days in a state of siege, 
Marion's detachment harassing him continually, cutting 
ofi" his supplies, and giving him no repose by day or by 
night. 

Watson now wrote again to Marion ; but took care 
not to insult him. He wanted a pass for Torriano and 
other wounded men, to go to Charleston, which Marion 
courteously granted. Finally the situation of Watson 
had become so intolerable that by a desperate eff'ort he 
efl"ected his retreat to Georgetown, harassed and cut up 
all the way by his indefatigable enemy, having his horse 
killed in the last skirmish, and coming very near a total 
defeat at the hands of the partisan whom he had gone 
forth to capture, destroy, or drive out of the country. 

Meantime Colonel Doyle had succeeded in reacliing 
Marion's stronghold on Snow's Island, and capturing 
the stores, arms, and ammunition, which had hitherto 
been considered safe in that place. On learning this 
disaster, Marion set ofl" in pursuit of Doyle and encount- 



pEraLous conditio:^ of marion. 153 

ered him at Witherspoon's Ferry, on Lynch's Creek, 
so posted that it was impossible to cross the river in 
that place ; while he made a detour and swam the river 
five miles higher up, Doyle decamped and joined Lord 
Rawdon at Camden. "Thus," says Moultrie, '* the 
scene was reversed : instead of Watson and Doyle push- 
ing Marion out of the country, he faces about and 
pursues them towards Camden ; their marches were too 
rapid for them to be overtaken." 

It was about this time that Marion called his officers 
together to make known to them the perilous condition 
in which he was placed from being almost the only op- 
ponent of the British in South Carolina. Mr. Simms 
places this incident after the retreat of Doyle and Watson. 
Moultrie says it was when these officers were first sent 
out in pursuit of him. His account of the affair is as 
follows : 

General Marion retired to Lynch's creek, and was soon 
informed that Colonel Watson and a party of |ories were 
advancing fast upon him, the first in his rear, the second 
on his right, and that Colonel Doyle from Camden was 
in his front, three detachments from different directions, 
and all pointed towards Marion, with an intention to drive 
him out of the country. They knew he could get no sup- 
port or assistance, and that he had but very few men 
with him. General Marion made known his situation to 
Colonel Peter Horry, and said if the enemy did drive 
him out of the country, he was determined to retire over 
the mountains, with as many as would follow him, and 
from time to time would gather a party and sally down 
the country, and do them as much injury as he could, 



154 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

until he was killed or they had left the country, he would 
not leave off warring against them : he said he was afraid 
that, if he should be hard pushed, many of his men 
would not leave their families and fly with him. General 
Marion desired Colonel Peter Horry to call the field- 
officers together privately, and lay the circumstances of 
their situation fully before them ; to acquaint them of 
his determination, and to have theirs, in order that he 
might know how far he could rely on them : he recom- 
mended that the officers should unite with him as a band 
of brother officers ; and that each should most solemnly 
pledge to the other his sacred word and honor, to be 
faithful, and never submit to the enemy but with their 
lives. 

The field-officers then in camp, were Colonels Peter 
Horry, Hugh Horry, James Postell, and Irvin ; Majors 
James Baxter and Swinton ; these met and resolved ac- 
cording to the wishes of the general, and without hesita- 
tion, said they were bound in honor to adhere to his for- 
tune, whether good or bad ; and they all declared they 
would be faithful to each other, and would carry on the 
war as the general should direct : these determinations 
being made at a time when there was the greatest pros- 
pect of distress, were truly honorable to themselves and 
to their country. 

On General Marion's being acquainted with their 
resolutions, he said ''he was satisfied, and that one of 
the enemy's detachments should feel his force." 

The reader has already been made acquainted with 
the manner in which they were made to '•''feel Ids force.''* 



KETREAT OF WATSOX. 155 



CHAPTER XYU. 

Eetreat of Watson — Siege and capture of Fort Watson by Marion 
and Lee — Battle of Hobkirk's Hill — Watson escapes to Camden — 
ISiege of Fort Motte — Noble conduct of Mrs. Motte— Marion rescuea 
a prisoner from assassination. 

After the retreat of Doyle, Marion again turned his 
attention to "Watson, who had a force double his own, 
and was now pushing on for the Pedee. Marion en- 
camped at the Wahees within five miles of the enemy. 
But he was nearly destitute of powder for his rifles, 
and could only watch his opponent without venturing to at- 
tack. The approach of General Greene's army drew 
off Watson who made a hasty retreat towards Camden, 
while Lieutenant Colonel Lee again joined Marion ; and 
on the fifteenth of April their united force appeared be- y 
fore Fort AYatson. 

Determined, says Lee,* to carry this post without 
delay, Marion and Lee sat down before it early in the 
evening, not doubting, from the information received, 
that the garrison must soon be compelled to surrender, 
for want of water, with which it was supplied from an 
adjacent lake, and from which the garrison might be 
readily and effectually secluded. In a very few houi'S 

* Memoirs. 



\ 



156 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

the customary mode of supplying the post with water 
was completely stopped ; and had the information re- 
ceived been correct, a surrender of the garrison could 
not have been long delayed. 

The ground selected by Colonel Watson for his small 
stockade, was an Indian mount, generally conceived to 
be the cemetery of the tribe inhabiting the circumjacent 
region : it was at least thirty feet high, and surrounded 
by table land. Captain M'Koy, the commandant, saw 
at once his inevitable fate, unless he could devise some 
other mode of procuring water, for which purpose he im- 
mediately cut a trench from his fosse (secured by abattis) 
to the river, which passed close to the Indian mount. 

Baffled in their expectation, and destitute both of 
artillery and intrenching tools, Marion and Lee de- 
spaired of success ; when Major Mayham, of South Caro- 
lina, accompanying the brigadier, suggested a plan, 
which was no sooner communicated than gratefully 
adopted. He proposed to cut down a number of suitable 
trees in the nearest w^ood, and with them to erect a large 
strong oblong pen, to be covered on the top with a floor 
of logs, and protected on the side opposite to the fort 
with a breastwork of light timber. To the adjacent farms 
dragoons were despatched for axes, the only necessary 
tool, of which a sufficient number being soon collected, 
relays of working parties were allotted for the labor ; 
some to cut, some to convey, and some to erect. 

Major Mayham undertook the execution of his plan, 
which was completely finished before the morning of the 
23d, effective as to the object, and honorable to the 
genius of the inventor. The besieged was, like the be- 



SURRENDER OF FORT WATSON. 157 

sieger, unprovided with artillery, and could not interrupt 
the progress of a work, the completion of which must 
produce immediate submission. 

A party of riflemen, being ready, took post in the 
Mayham tower the moment it was completed ; and a de- 
tachment of musketry, under cover of the riflemen, 
moved to make a lodgment in the enemy's ditch, sup- 
ported by the legion infantry with fixed bayonets. Such 
was the effect of the fire from the riflemen, having 
thorough command of every part of the fort, from the 
relative supereminence of the tower, that every attempt 
to resist the lodgment was crushed. 

The commandant, finding every resource cut off, hung 
out the white flag. It was followed by a proposal to 
surrender, which issued in a capitulation. This incipient 
operation having been happily effected by the novel and 
effectual device of Major Mayham, to whom the command- 
ants very gratefully expressed their acknowledgment, 
Marion and Lee, preceded by the legion cavalry under 
Major Rudulph, who had been detached on the day sub- 
sequent to the investiture of the fort, turned their atten- 
tion to Lieutenant Colonel Watson, now advancing from 
below to relieve his garrison. Knowing that the fall of 
Camden was closely connected with the destruction of 
Watson, the American commandants viewed with delight 
his approach ; and having disposed of the prisoners, moved 
to join the cavalry, now retiring in front of the enemy. 

As soon as the capitulation for the surrender of Fort 
Watson was signed, Lee followed by his infantry has- 
tened to the cavalry, who had been sent to the front of 
Watson ; and on the subsequent morning was joined by 



t^ 



158 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

Marion, who had been necessarily delayed until the 
prisoners and stores were disposed of. Watson, seeing 
that the passes on his route were occupied, and knowing 
that the advantages possessed by his enemy would be 
strenuously maintained, relinquished his project of gain- 
ing Camden on the direct route, and determined, by 
passing the Santee, to interpose it between himself and 
the corps opposed to him ; presuming that he might with 
facility make his way good to Camden, by recrossing the 
/ Santee above ; or, by taking the route by Fort Motte, 
pass first the Congaree, and then the Wateree, which 
unite some small distance below the post at Motto's. 

Drawing off in the night, he placed himself at a con- 
siderable distance from his enemy before his change of 
plan was discovered. Nevertheless he would have been 
pursued, with the expectation of falling upon him before 
he could make good his passage of the river, had not the 
general's orders directing the junction of the corps under 
Lee arrived, which necessarily arrested the proposed 
attempt upon Watson. With all possible despatch Lee 
set out for the army ; and, in the course of the day and 
a small part of the night, marched thirty-two miles. 

But before he could rejoin Greene, the order was 
countermanded, and Captain Finley of the artillery with 
a six pounder was sent to join him. Lee then rejoined 
Marion. 
I Meantime during the siege of Fort Watson, the in- 

decisive battle of Hobkirk's Hill had taken place, in 
which, as in other instances. General Greene, although 
suffering a repulse by Lord Rawdon, still reaped the 
fruits of victory. After the battle he sat down in a 



ATTEMPT TO INTERCEPT WATSON. 159 

strong position near Camden, depriving Rawdon of his 
supplies from Charleston, and preventing Colonel Watson's 
approach to Camden on the southern route. At the 
same time he sent orders to Marion and Lee to intercept 
Watson in his attempts to reach Camden. 

Marion and Lee lost not a moment after their union in 
taking measures to execute the command of their gen- 
eral, well apprised of the vast importance attached to the 
interception of Watson. Marion, being perfectly ac- 
quainted with the country, guided the measures adopted. 
He well knew that, although General Greene's position 
would stop Watson on the usual route from Motto's 
post to Camden, it would not stop him from passing the 
Wateree at or below the high hills of Santee ; and that 
Watson, to avoid the corps destined to strike him, would 
probably, notwithstanding the judicious position taken 
by Greene, pass the Congaree at Motte's, and afterwards 
pass the Wateree below the high hills. 

If Watson should not deem it eligible to pass the 
Congaree, but one way was left for him, and that was to 
recross the Santee at the confluence of the two rivers 
just mentioned. 

Whether to sit dow^n on the north side of the Santee, 
prepared to fall upon Watson in the act of passing the river, 
or to cross it and strike at him on the southern banks, 
was the alternative presented to the American command- 
ants. 

Well informed of every step taken by Watson after 
he reached the southern side of tho Santee, no doubt re- 
mained but that he would pass either the Congaree or 
the Santee on the ensuing morning. It was now decided 



160 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

to cross to his side of the river, from a conviction that 
we should reach him on its southern banks, which ever 
course of the two before him he might select. The in- 
defatigable Marion, seconded by his zealous associates, 
foreseeing the probable necessity of a quick passage over 
the Santee, had provided the means of transportation, 
which was effected in the course of the night, and, with 
the dawn of day, the troops moved with celerity up the 
Santee. It was now ascertained that Watson had taken 
the route leading over that river where its two branches 
unite — the very spot which had so forcibly attracted the 
attention of Marion and Lee, and would have been se- 
lected by them, had it not been apprehended that Watson 
might have preferred the route across the Congaree. 

Had they confined their attention entirely to the north 
side of the river, the much desired interception would 
have been effected : for with horse, foot, and artillery, it 
was not to be expected that a corps of infantry only 
could have made good its landing in the face of an equal 
foe, and secured its arrival into Camden. 

Mortified with the result of their unceasing exertions, 
the deranging information was immediately forwarded to 
General Greene, and the disappointed commandants 
moved upon Fort Motte.* 

The following account of the siege of Fort Motte we 
transcribe from Lee's Memoirs : 

On the 10th of May the evacuation of Camden took 
place, and Lord Rawdon proceeded to Nelson's ferry 
with the expectation of crossing the Santee in time to 
dislodge Marion and Lee, still prosecuting the siege of 

* Lee's Memoirs. 



SIEGE OF FORT MOTTE. 161 

Fort Motte. Previous to his lordship's departure he 
burnt the jail, the mills, and some private houses, and 
destroyed all the stores which he could not take with 
him. He carried off four or five hundred negroes, and 
all the most obnoxious loyalists accompanied him. 

As soon as Greene w^as informed of the retreat of the 
enemy, persuaded that Rawdon's first efibrt would be 
directed to relieve Fort Motte, he advanced towards the 
Congaree, determined to pass that river, if necessary, 
and to cover the operations of the besieging corps. 

This post was the principal depot of the convoys from 
Charleston to Camden, and sometimes of those destined 
for Fort Granby and Ninety-six. A large new mansion ^ 
house, belonging to Mrs. Motte, situated on a high and 
commanding hill, had been selected for this establishment. 
It was surrounded with a deep trench, along the interior 
margin of which was raised a strong and lofty parapet. 
To this post had been regularly assigned an adequate 
garrison of about one hundred and fifty men, which was 
now accidentally increased by a small detachment of dra- 
goons, — which had arrived from Charleston, a few hours 
before the appearance of the American troops, on its way 
to Camden with despatches for Lord Rawdon. Captain 
M'Pherson commanded, an officer highly and deservedly 
respected. 

Opposite Fort Motte, to the north, stood another hill, 
where Mrs. Motte, having been dismissed from her man- 
sion, resided, in the old farmhouse. On this height 
Lieutenant Colonel Lee with his corps took post, while 
Brigadier Marion occupied the eastern declivity of the 
ridge on which the fort stood. 
11 



162 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

Very soon the fort was completely invested ; and the 
six pounder was mounted on a battery erected in Marion's 
quarter for the purpose of raking the northern face of 
the enemy's parapet, against which Lee was preparing 
to advance. M'Pherson was unprovided with artillery, 
and depended for safety upon timely relief, not doubting 
its arrival before the assailant could push his preparations 
to maturity. 

The vale which runs between the two hills admitted 
our safe approach within four hundred yards of the fort. 
This place was selected by Lee to break ground. Relays 
of working parties being provided for every four hours, 
and some of the negroes from the neighboring planta- 
tions being brought, by the influence of Marion, to our 
assistance, the works advanced with rapidity. Such was 
their forwardness on the 10th, that it was determined to 
summon the commandant. 

A flag was accordingly despatched to Captain M'Pher- 
son, stating to him with truth our relative situation, ex- 
pressing with decision the fate which awaited him, and 
admonishing him to avoid the disagreeable consequences 
of an arrogant temerity. To this the captain replied, 
that, disregarding consequences, he should continue to 
resist to the last moment in his power. The retreat of 
Rawdon was known in the evening to the besiegers ; and 
in the course of the night a courier arrived from General 
Greene confirming that event, urging redoubled activity, 
and communicating his determination to hasten to their 
support. Urged by these strong considerations, Marion 
and Lee persevered throughout the night in pressing the 
completion of their works. On the next day, Rawdon 



DETERMINE TO BURN FORT MOTTE. 163 

reached the country opposite to Fort Motte ; and in the 
succeeding night encamping on the highest ground in his 
route, the illumination of his fires gave the joyful annun- 
ciation of his approach to the despairing garrison. But 
the hour was close at hand, when this fallacious joy was 
to be converted into sadness. 

The large mansion in the centre of the encircling 
trench, left but a few yards of the ground within the 
enemy's works uncovered : burning the house must force 
their surrender. 

Persuaded that our ditch would be within arrow shot 
before noon of the next day, Marion and Lee determined 
to adopt this speedy mode of efifecting their object. 
Orders were instantly issued to prepare bows and arrows, 
with missive combustible matter. This measure was re- 
luctantly adopted ; for the destruction of private property 
was repugnant to the principles which swayed the two 
commandants, and upon this occasion was peculiarly dis- 
tressing. The devoted house was a large, pleasant 
edifice, intended for the summer residence of the respect- 
able owner, whose deceased husband had been a firm 
friend to his oppressed country, and whose only mar- 
riageable daughter was the wife of Major Pinckney, an 
officer in the South Carolina line, who had fought and 
bled in his country's cause, and was now a prisoner with 
the enemy. These considerations powerfully forbade the 
execution of the proposed measure ; but there were 
others of much cogency, which applied personally to 
Lieutenant Colonel Lee, and gave a new edge to the 
bitterness of the scene. 

Encamping contiguous to Mrs. Motte's dwelHng, this 



164 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

officer had, upon his arrival, been requested in the most 
pressing terms to make her house his quarters. The in- 
vitation was accordingly accepted ; and not only the 
lieutenant colonel, but every officer of his corps, off duty, 
daily experienced her liberal hospitality, politely prof- 
fered and as politely administered. Nor was the attention 
of this amiable lady confined to that class of war which 
never fail to attract attention. While her richly spread 
table presented with taste and fashion all the luxuries of 
her opulent country, and her sideboard offered without 
reserve the best wines of Europe, — antiquated relics of 
happier days, — her active benevolence found its way to 
the sick and to the wounded; cherishing with softest 
kindness infirmity and misfortune, converting despair 
into hope, and nursing debility into strength. Neverthe- 
less the imperative obligations of duty must be obeyed ; 
the house must burn ; and a respectful communication to 
the lady of her destined loss must be made. Taking the 
first opportunity which offered, the next morning, Lieu- 
tenant Colonel Lee imparted to Mrs. Motte the intended 
measure ; lamenting the sad necessity, and assuring her 
of the deep regret which the unavoidable act excited in 
his and every breast. 

With the smile of complacency this exemplary lady 
listened to the embarrassed officer, and gave instant relief 
to his agitated feelings, by declaring, that she was grati- 
fied with the opportunity of contributing to the good of 
her country, and that she should view the approaching 
scene with delight. Shortly after, seeing accidentally the 
bow and arrows which had been prepared, she sent for 
Lee, and presenting him with a bow and its apparatus 



( ) 




MRS. MOTTE rRESENTUNG THK IJOW AND ARHO^.S TO DESTROY IlEll OWX 
DWELLINQ. — PAGE 104. 



BURNING OF FORT MOTTE. 165 

imported from India, she requested his substitution of 
these, as probably better adapted for the object than 
those we had provided. 

Receiving with silent delight this opportune present, 
Lee rejoined his troops, now making ready for the con- 
cluding scene. The lines were manned, and an additional 
force stationed at the battery, lest the enemy, perceiving 
his fate, might determine to risk a desperate assault, as 
offering the only chance of relief. As soon as the troops 
reached their several points, a flag was again sent to 
M'Pherson, for the purpose of inducing him to prevent 
the conflagration and the slaughter which might ensue, 
by a second representation of his actual condition. 

Doctor Irwin, of the legion cavalry, was charged with 
the flag, and instructed to communicate faithfully the 
inevitable destruction impending, and the impracticability 
of relief, as Lord Rawdon had not yet passed the Santee; 
with an assurance that longer perseverance in vain resis- 
tance would place the garrison at the mercy of the con- 
queror ; who was not regardless of the policy of prevent- 
ing the waste of time, by inflicting exemplary punish- 
ment, where resistance was maintained only to produce 
such waste. The British captain received the flag with 
his usual politeness, and heard patiently Irvin's explana- 
tions ; but he remained immovable ; repeating his deter- 
mination of holding out to the last. 

It was now about noon, and the rays of the scorching 
sun had prepared the shingle roof for the projected con- 
flagration. The return of Irwin was immediately followed 
by the application of the bow and arrows. The first 
arrow struck, and communicated its fire ; a second was 



166 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

shot at another quarter of the roof, and a third at a 
thh'd quarter ; this last also took effect, and, like the 
first, soon kindled a blaze. M'Pherson ordered a party 
to repair to the loft "of the house, and by knocking off 
the shingles to stop the flames. This was soon perceived, 
and Captain Finley was directed to open his battery, 
raking the loft from end to end. 

The fire of our six pounder, posted close to one of the 
gable ends of the house, soon drove the soldiers down ; 
and no other efi'ort to stop the flames being practicable, 
M'Pherson hung out the white flag. Mercy was extended, 
although policy commanded death, and the obstinacy of 
M'Pherson warranted it. The commandant, with the 
regulars, of which the garrison w^as chiefly composed, 
were taken possession of by Lee ; while the loyalists Avere 
delivered to Marion. Among the latter was a Mr. Smith, 
who had been charged with burning the houses of his 
neighbors friendly to their country. This man conse- 
quently became very obnoxious, and his punishment was 
loudly demanded by many of the militia serving under 
the brigadier ; but the humanity of Marion could not be 
overcome. Smith was secured from his surrounding 
enemies, ready to devote him, and taken under the 
general's protection. 

M'Pherson was charged with having subjected himself 
to punishment, by his idle waste of his antagonists' time ; 
and reminded as well of the opportunities which had been 
presented to him of saving himself and garrison from 
unconditional submission, as of the cogent considerations, 
growing out of the posture of afiairs, which urged the 
prevention of future useless resistance by present ex- 



ARRIVAL OF GENERAL GREENE. 167 

emplary punishment. The British officer frankly ac- 
knowledged his dependent situation, and declared his 
readiness to meet any consequence which the discharge 
of duty, conformably to his own conviction of right, 
might produce. Powerfully as the present occasion 
called for punishment, and rightfully as it might have 
been inflicted, not a drop of blood was shed, nor any 
part of the enemy's baggage taken. M'Pherson and his 
officers accompanied their captors to Mrs. Motto's, and 
partook with them in a sumptuous dinner;''' soothing in 
the sweets of social intercourse the ire which the preced- 
ing conflict had engendered. Requesting to be permitted 
to return to Charleston on parole, they were accordingly 
paroled and sent off in the evening to Lord Rawdon, 
now engaged in passing the Santee at Nelson's ferry. 
Soon after. General Greene, anxious for the success of 
his detachment against Fort Motte, attended by an escort . 
of cavalry, reached us, for the purpose of knowing pre- 
cisely our situation, and the progress of the British 
general, who he expected would hasten to the relief of 
M'Pherson, as soon as he should gain the southern banks 
of the Santee ; to counteract which the American general 
had resolved, and was then engaged in preparing boats, 
to transport his army over the Congaree. Finding the 

* The deportment and demeanor of Mrs. Motte gave a zest to the 
pleasures of the table. She did its honors with that unaffected polite- 
ness, which ever excites esteem mingled with admiration. Conversing 
with ease, vivacity, and good sense, she obliterated our recollection of 
the injury she had received ; and though warmly attached to the de- 
fenders of her country, the engaging amiability of her manners left it 
doubtful which set of officers constituted these defenders. 



168 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

siege prosperously concluded, he returned to camp ; hav- 
ing directed Marion, after placing the prisoners in se- 
curity, to proceed against Georgetown, and ordering Lee 
^ to advance without delay upon Fort Granby, to which 
place the American army would now move. 

Mr. Simms, in his life of Marion, gives the following 
account of Marion's interposition in behalf of the tory 
prisoners : 

While at the hospitable table of Mrs. Motte, it was 
whispered in Marion's ears, that Col. Lee's men were 
even then engaged in hanging certain of the tory pris- 
oners. Marion instantly hurried from the table, seized 
his sword, and running with all haste, reached the place 
of execution in time to rescue one poor wretch from the 
gallows. Two were already beyond rescue or recovery. 
With drawn sword and a degree of indignation in his 
countenance that spoke more than words, Marion threat- 
ened to kill the first man that made any further attempt 
in such diabolical proceedings. 

The reader will perceive how totally at variance this 
is with Col. Lee's account quoted above. (See page 166.) 

Mr. Simms gives no author for his statement ; but on 
the other hand we have the authority of Col. Lee him- 
self. Moreover, it is not probable that Lee's soldiers 
would meddle with the tories after they had become the 
prisoners of Marion. 



greexe's opinion of maeion. 1G9 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

General Greene's opinion of Gen. "Marion — MisTinderstandin^ between 
Marion and Greene — Reconciled — I>^rd Rawdon evacuates Carn- 
den — General Sumter takes Orangeburg — Lee captures Fort Gran- 
by—Siege of Ninety Six — Greece pursues Rawdon to Orangeburg and 
offers h)atlle — 'Ilje British garrison CAacuates Xinety-Six, and joins 
Rawdon at Orangeburg — Of^erations of Greene to cause the evacua- 
tion of Orangeburg — Sumter and Marion sent to the posts at Monk's 
Comer and Dorchester — Colonel Wade Hampton's exploit? — Attack 
on Col. Coates at Shubrick'a plantation — Effect of these operations 
on the country — Lord Rawdon sails for Europe. 

From the time when General Greene, having taken 
command of the army of the southern department, en- 
tered into correspondence with Marion, and sent Lee, 
with his legion, to act in conjunction with Marion's bri- 
gade, Marion had been acting under Greene's orders, 
instead of conducting the war in South Carolina as an 
independent partisan leader. His subsequent operations 
were consequently all more or less connected with the 
movements of the main army. 

How much Greene depended on his support, and how 
highly he estimated his past services, may be seen by 
the following letter from Greene to Marion, dated at the 
camp before Camden, April 24, 1781:* 
* Quoted by Simms, p. 244. 



170 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

"When I consider," writes Greene, " how much you 
have done and suffered, and under what disadvantage 
you have maintained your ground, I am at a loss which 
to admire most, your courage and fortitude, or your ad- 
dress and management. Certain it is, no man has a 
better claim to the public thanks than you. History 
affords no instance wherein an officer has kept posses- 
sion of a country under so many disadvantages as you 
have. Surrounded on every side with a superior force, 
hunted from every quarter with veteran troops, you have 
found means to elude their attempts, and to keep alive 
the expiring hopes of an oppressed militia, when all suc- 
cor seemed to be cut off. To fight the enemy hravely 
with the prospect of victory^ is nothing ; hut to fight with 
intrepidity wider the constant impression of defeat^ and 
inspire irregular troops to do it, is a talent peculiar to 
yourself, Nothing will give me greater pleasure than to 
do justice to your merit, and I shall miss no opportunity 
of declaring to Congress, to the commander-in-chief of 
the American army, and to the world, the great sense I 
have of your merit and your services." 

To operate successfully in the plain level country of 
Carolina, an efficient body of cavalry was indispensable ; 
and General Greene was anxious to increase this species 
of force in the main army. But there was great diffi- 
culty in obtaining horses. The British had robbed the 
stables pretty generally, and few horses fit for service 
could be found. Colonel Lee writing to Greene (May 
23, 1781) had said that General Marion could supply 
him with 150 good dragoon horses, if he would. This 
was a great mistake of Lee's, and led to a very unpleas- 



DIFFICULTY SETTLED. 171 

ant correspondence between Greene and Marlon, tlie 
former supposing that the latter had not duly regarded 
his pressing demands for horses, and the latter repelling 
the charge and finally offering his resignation. 

Greene on learning the real state of affairs, and that 
he had done Marion great injustice in supposing that he 
was unnecessarily withholding supplies for the public 
service, when in point of fact it was utterly out of his 
power to furnish them, wrote to Marion very earnestly 
dissuading him from resigning his command, and using 
his utmost powers of conciliation. Fortunately he was 
successful, and this unfortunate misunderstanding be- 
tween two of the most illustrious heroes of the revolution 
was satisfactorily adjusted. Its effects, however, in one 
respect were injurious, as many of Marion's men, sup- 
posing that they were about to be dismounted, and their 
horses given to the troopers of the main army, left the 
service and returned to their homes. The terms which 
they served under Marion, were not, as we have already 
seen, incompatible with this proceeding. They were 
always volunteers^ in the widest sense of the word. 

After the battle of Hobkirk's Hill, (April 25th, 1781,) 
as we have already related. General Greene had taken 
a position to cut off the advance of Colonel Watson to- 
wards Camden. At the same time (May 3d) he sent a 
reinforcement to General Marion, who was to co-operate 
with him in the same object. But Watson eluded them, 
by a circuituous route, and entered Camden on the 7th of 
May, bringing a considerable reinforcement to the army 
under Lord Rawdon's command, the main body of the 
British force in the south. 



1T2 LIFE OF GENEEAL FRANCIS MARION. 

With this increase of force Lord Rawdon attempted, 
on the day following, to compel General Greene to an- 
other action ; but soon found that this was impracticable. 
Failing in his design, he returned to Camden, and on 
the tenth burned the gaol, mills, many private houses, 
and a great deal of his own baggage — evacuated the 
post — and retired with his whole army to the south of 
the Santee ; leaving about thirty of his own sick and 
wounded, and as many of the Americans, who, on the 
25th of April, had fallen into his hands. 

Lord Rawdon discovered as great prudence in this 
evacuation of Camden as he had shown bravery in its 
defenpe. The fall of Fort Watson broke the chain of 
communication with Charleston, and the positions of 
the American army intercepted all supplies from the 
country. The return of Greene to the southward being 
unexpected, the stores of the garrison were not provided 
for a siege. 

Lord Rawdon had the honor of saving his men, though 
he lost the post, the country, and the confidence of the 
tories. He offered every assistance in his power to the 
friends of British government who would accompany 
him ; but it was a hard alternative to the new-made sub- 
jects to be obliged to abandon their property, or to be 
left at the mercy of their exasperated countrymen. Se- 
veral families nevertheless accompanied his lordship. 
These were cruelly 'neglected after their arrival in 
Charleston. They built themselves huts without the 
works. Their settlement was called Rawdon Town ; 
which from its poverty and wretchedness, became a term 
of reproach. Many women and children, who lived 



SURRENDER OF FORT GRANBY. 173 

comfortably on their farms near Camden, soon died of 
want in these their new habitations. 

This evacuation animated the friends of congress, and 
gave a very general alarm to the British. The former 
had been called upon for their personal services, to as- 
sist in regaining the country, but were disheartened by 
the repulse of General Greene from before Camden ; but 
from the moment that Lord Rawdon evacuated that post 
their numbers daily increased, and the British posts fell 
in quick succession. On the day after the Evacuation 
of Camden, the garrison of Orangeburg, consisting of 
seventy British militia and twelve regulars, surrendered 
to General Sumter. 

Two days after the surrender of Fort Motte, the Bri- 
tish evacuated their post at Nelson's ferry — blew up 
their fortifications — and destroyed a great part of their 
stores. The day following, Fort Granby, near Friday's 
ferry, about thirty miles to the westward of Fort Motte, 
surrendered by capitulation. Very advantageous terms 
were given by the assailants in consequence of informa- 
tion that Lord Rawdon was marching to its relief. This 
was a post of more consequence than the others, and 
might have been better defended ; but the offer of secu- 
rity to the baggage of the garrison, in which was in- 
cluded an immense quantity of plunder, hastened the 
surrender. For some time before, it had been greatly 
harassed by Colonel Taylor's regiment of militia, and 
had also been invested by General Sumter. On the 
night of the 14th of May, Lieutenant Colonel Lee 
erected a battery within six hundred yards of its out- 
works, on which he mounted a six-pounder. After the 



174 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

third discharge of this field-piece, Major Maxwell capi- 
tulated. His force consisted of three hundred and fifty- 
two men, a great part of whom were royal militia. 

While these operations were carrying on against the 
small posts, General Greene proceeded with the main 
army to Ninety-Six. This place being of great conse- 
quence was defended by a considerable force. Lieuten- 
ant Colonel Cruger conducted the defence with great 
bravery and judgment. Major Green, in particular, 
acquired distinguished reputation by his spirited and 
judicious conduct in defending the redoubt against 
which the Americans made their principal efforts. 

The siege was protracted from the 23d of May to the 
18th of June, when it was abandoned in consequence of 
the approach of Lord Rawdon with a large and powerful 
reinforcement. Colonel Lee won great honor by his 
galhmt conduct in the final assault which was made be- 
fore the siege w^as abandoned. While the siege was in 
progress, Marion and Sumter were engaged in watching, 
and impeding as far as was practicable, the advance of 
Lord Rawdon to the relief of the garrison. 

The arrival of the British reinforcement, and the sub- 
sequent retreat from Ninety-Six, induced a general ap- 
prehension that ilie British would soon re-establish the. 
posts they had lost to the southward of Santee. The 
destination of the main army under Lord Cornwallis 
having been for some time known, the British command- 
ers in South Carolina had contracted their boundaries 
to that extent of country which is in a great measure 
inclosed by the Santee, the Congaree, and the Edisto. 
Within these rivers Lord Rawdon intended tb confine 



RAWDON IN HIS STRONGHOLD. 175 

his future operations, and to canton- his forces in the 
most eligible positions. His ^ lordship, taking it for 
granted that the Americans had abandoned South Caro- 
lina, resolved, upon his return from pursuing General 
Greene, to divide his army, with the intention of fixing 
a detachment at the Congaree ; but he soon found that 
his adversaries were not disposed to give up the prize \ 
for which they had so long contended. 

Greene, on hearing that Lord Rawdon had marched 
with a part of his force to Congai'ee, faced about to give 
him battle. Lord Rawdon, no less surprised than 
alarmed at this unexpected movement of his lately re- 

"treating foe, al5andoned the Congaree in two days after 
his arrival there, and retreated expeditiously to Orange- 
burg. In this position'he was secured on one side with 
a river, and on the other with strong buildings little in- 
ferior to redoubts. Greene pursued — encamped within 
five miles of this post, and offered him battle. His lord- 
ship, secure in his stronghold, would not venture out ; 
and General Greene was too weak to attack him in his 
works with any prospect of success. In the course of 
these movements, on the second of July, Captain Eggles- 
ton of Lee's legion, fell in with forty-nine British horse, 

' near the Saluda, and took forty-eight of them pri- 
soners. 

Whilst the American army lay near Orangeburg, 
advice was received that Lieutenant Colonel Cruger had 
evacuated Ninety-Six, and was marching with the troops 
of that garrison through the forks of Edisto to join Lord 
Rawdon at Orangeburg. As the north fork of Edisto 

^s not passable by an army, without boats, for thirty miles 



176 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

above or below the British encampments, General Greene 
could not throw himself between with any prospect of 
preventing the jmiction ; he therefore retired to the high 
hills of Santee, and Lord Rawdon and Lieutenant Col. 
Cruger the day after made a junction. 

The evacuation of Camden having been effected by strik- 
ing at the posts below it, the same manoeuvre was now 
attempted to induce the British to leave Orangeburg. 
With this view, on the day that the main American 
army retired from before that post, Generals Sumter 
and Marion, with their brigades and the legion cavalry, 
were detached to Monk's Corner and Dorchester. They 
moved down by different roads, and in three days com- 
menced their operations. Lieutenant Colonel Lee took 
all the wagons and wagon horses belonging to a con- 
voy of provisions. 

Colonel Wade Hampton charged a party of British 
dragoons within five miles of Charleston. He also 
took fifty prisoners at Strawberry ferry, and burn%d 
four vessels loaded with valuable stores for the British 
army. 

"General Sumter appeared before the garrison at Big- 
gin's church, which consisted of five hundred infantry, 
and upwards of one hundred cavalry. Lieutenant Col. 
Coates, who commanded there, after having repulsed the 
advanced party of General Sumter, on the next evenings 
destroyed his stores and retreated towards Charleston. 

He was closely pursued by Lieutenant Colonel Lee 
with the legion, and Lieutenant Colonel Hampton with 
the state cavalry. The legion came up with them near 
Shubrick's plantation, took their rear guard and all 



BRITISH LOSSES. 177 

their b.aggage. Captain Armstrong, of Lee's legion, at 
the head only of five men, charged through a consider- 
able part of their lines and escaped with the loss of two 
men. 

Generals Sumter and Marion, after some hours, came 
up with the main body ; but by this time the British had 
secured themselves by taking an advantageous post in a 
range of houses. An attack was however made, and 
continued with spirit till upwards of fifty of Marion's 
men were killed or wounded by the fire from the houses. 
The British lost in these different engagements one hun- 
dred and forty prisoners, besides several killed and 
wounded, all the baggage of the nineteenth regiment, 
and above one hundred horses and several wagons. 

Thus was the war carried on. While the British kept 
their forces compact, they could not cover the country, 
and the American general had the precaution to avoid 
fighting. When they divided their army, their detach- 
ments were separately and successfully attacked. While 
they were in force in the upper country, light parties of 
Americans were annoying their small posts in the low 
country near Charleston. The people soon found that 
the late conquerors were not able to afford them their 
promised protection. The spirit of revolt became gene- 
ral, and the British interest daily declined. 

Soon after these events Lord Rawdon, driven from 
almost the whole of his posts — baffled in all his schemes, 
and overwhelmed with vexation, sailed for Europe. In 
the course of his command he aggravated the unavoid- 
able calamities of war by many acts of severity, which 
12 



178 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

admit of no other apology than that they were supposed 
to be useful to the interest of his royal master. 

About the same time that Generals Sumter and Ma- 
rion were detached to the lower parts of the state, the 
main American army retired to the high hills of Santee, 
and the British returned to their former station near the 
junction of the Wateree and the Congaree. 



STATE OF THE SOUTHERN COUNTRY. 179 



CHAPTER XIX. 

State of the southern country — Bitter hostility between the contend- 
ing parties — Cruel excesses — Moderation of General Greene — Raw- 
don succeeded by Stewart — Greene prepares to attack Stewart — 
Secret expedition of Marion — He defeats the British force under 
Major Frazer, and relieves Colonel Harden — Receives the thanks 
of Congress — Battle of Eutaw Springs. 

The spirit in which the war was carried on at this 
this time is thus described by Marshall.* 

The suffering sustained in this ardent struggle for the 
southern states was not confined to the armies. The in- 
habitants of the country felt all the miseries which are 
inflicted by war in its most savage form. Being almost 
equally divided between the two contending parties, re- 
ciprocal injuries had gradually sharpened their resent- 
ments against each other, and had armed neighbor 
against neighbor, until it became a war of extermination. 
As the parties alternately triumphed, opportunities were 
alternately given for the exercise of their vindictive 
passions. They derived additional virulence from the 
examples occasionally afforded by the commanders of 
the British forces. After overrunning Georgia and 
South Carolina, they seem to have considered those 
states as completely reannexed to the British empire ; 
* Life of Washington. 



180 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

and they manifested a disposition to treat those as rebels, 
who had once submitted and again taken up arms, al- 
though the temporary ascendancy of the continental 
troops should have induced the measure. One of these 
executions, that of Colonel Hayne, took place on the 3d 
of August, while Lord Rawdon* was in Charleston, pre- 
paring to sail for Europe. The American army being 
at this time in possession of great part of the country, the 
punishment inflicted on this gentleman was taken up very 
seriously by General Greene, and was near producing a 
system of retaliation. The British officers, pursuing this 
policy, are stated to have executed several of the zealous 
partisans of the revolution who fell into their hands. 
These examples had unquestionably some influence in 
unbridling the revengeful passions of the royalists, and 
letting loose the spirit of slaughter which was brooding 
in their bosoms. The disposition to retaliate to the full 
extent of their power, if not to commit original injury, 
was equally strong in the opposite party. When Fort 
Granby surrendered, the militia attached to the legion 
manifested so strong a disposition to break the capitu- 
lation, and to murder the most obnoxious among the 
prisoners who were inhabitants of the country, as to 

* The execution of Colonel Hayne has been generally ascribed to 
Lord Rawdon, and he has been censured throughout Annerica for an 
act which has been universally execrated. A letter addressed by him 
to the late General Lee, on receiving the memoirs of the southern 
war, w^ritten by that gentleman, which has been published in the 
''View of the Campaign of 1781, in the Carolinas, by H. Lee," gives 
the British view of that transaction, and exonerates Lord Rawdon 
from all blame. Lieutenant Colonel Balfour commanded, and Lord 
Rawdon sought to save Colonel Hayne. — Marshall. 



MODERATION OF GREENE. 181 

produce a solemn declaration from General Greene, that 
any man guilty of so atrocious an act, should be exe- 
cuted. When Fort Cornwallis surrendered, no exertions 
could have saved Colonel Brown, had he not been sent 
to Savannah, protected by a guard of continental troops. 
Lieutenant Colonel Grierson, of the royal militia, was 
shot by unknown marksmen, and, although a reward of 
one hundred guineas was offered to any person who 
would inform against the perpetrator of the crime, he 
could never be discovered. " The whole country," said 
General Greene in one of his letters, "is one continued 
scene of blood and slaughter." 

Greene, was too humane, as well as too judicious, not 
to discourage this exterminating spirit. Perceiving in 
it the total destruction of the country, he sought to ap- 
pease it by restraining the excesses of those who were 
attached to the American cause. 

On the departure of Lord Rawdon for Europe, Lieut. 
Colonel Stewart was left in command at Orano^eburs:. 
Leaving this post, he encamped near McCord's Ferry, 
on the Congaree. General Greene's army was encamped 
on the opposite side of the river, and the fires of the two 
armies were visible to each other. While the armies 
were thus situated, Colonel Lee was sent up the north 
bank of the Congaree, Colonel Washington down the 
country across the Santee to cut off the communication 
of the enemy with Charleston, and to co-operate with 
General Marion in covering the lower Santee, while Col. 
Harden was sent to the Edisto with a body of mounted 
militia to harass the outposts of the enemy in that 
quarter. 



182 LIFE OP GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

On the 22nd of August Greene broke up his camp at 
the high hills of Santee, and proceeded to Howell's 
Ferry, on the Congaree, intending to cross it and ad- 
vance upon Stewart, who, on learning this movement, 
took post in a strong position at Eutaw Springs. 

While these operations were going on, General Ma- 
rion, learning that Colonel Harden was closely pressed 
by a British force of five hundred men, in the neighbor- 
hood of the Pon Pon, secretly marched to his relief, a 
distance of 200 miles, ambushed, and defeated the Brit- 
ish under Major Frazer, killing a great number of his 
cavalry, and rescued Colonel Harden without loss to 
himself. (Aug. 31, 1781.) After this, being recalled 
by General Greene, he returned to a position on the 
Santee, in the track of Greene's advance. This brilliant 
expedition for which Marion received the thanks of Con- 
gress, occupied him but six days. He joined Greene 
at Laurens's plantation, seventeen miles from Eutaw 
Springs, when he was still advancing to attack Stew- 
art. 

It was on the 8th of September, 1781, that the cele- 
brated battle of Eutaw Springs took place. Greene 
drew up his little force, consisting of about two thousand 
men, in two lines. The front consisted of the militia 
from North and South Carolina, and was commanded by 
Generals Marion and Pickens, and by Colonel De Mal- 
medy. The second consisted of the continental troops 
from North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland, and was 
led on by General Sumner, Lieutenant Colonel Camp- 
bell, and Colonel Williams. Lieutenant^Colonel Lee, 
with his legion, covered the right flank ; Lieutenant 



BATTLE OF EUTAW SPRINGS. 183 

Colonel Henderson, -with the state troops, covered the 
left. Lieutenant Colonel Washington, with his cavalry, 
and Captain Kirkwood with the Delaware troops, formed 
a corps of reserve. 

As the Americans advanced to the attack, they fell in 
with two advanced parties of the British, three or four 
miles ahead of the main army. These, being briskly 
charged by the legion and ^ state troops, soon retired. 
The front line continued to fire and advance on the Bri- 
tish till the action became general, and till they, in their 
turn, were obliged to give way. They were well sup- 
ported by General Sumner's North Carolina brigade of 
continentals, though they had been under discipline 
only for a few weeks, and were chiefly composed of mili- 
tia men, who had been transferred to the continental 
service to make reparation for their precipitate flight in 
former actions. 

In the hottest of the engagement, when great execution 
was doing on both sides. Colonel Williams and Lieutenant 
Colonel Campbell, with the Maryland and Virginia con- 
tinentals, were ordered by General Greene to charge 
with trailed arms. Nothing could surpass the intrepi- 
dity of both officers and men on this occasion — they 
rushed on, in good order, through a heavy cannonade 
and a shower of musketry, with such unshaken resolu- 
tion that they bore down all before them. 

The stLte troops of South Carolina were deprived of 
their gallant leader, Lieutenant Colonel Henderson, who 
was wounded very early in the action ; but they were 
nevertheless boldly led on by the second in command, 
Lieutenant Colonel Hampton, to a very spirited and 



184 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

successful charge, in which they took upwards of a hun- 
dred prisoners. 

Lieutenant Colonel Washington brought up the corps- 
de-reserve on the left, and charged so briskly with his 
cavalry and Captain Kirkwood's light infantry, as gave 
them no time to rally or form. The British were closely 
pursued, and upwards of five hundred prisoners were 
taken. On their retreat they took their posts in a 
strong brick house and in impenetrable shrubs and a 
picquetted garden. From these advantageous positions 
they renewed the action. 

Lieutenant Colonel Washington made every possible 
exertion to dislodge them from the thickets, but failed 
in the attempt ; had his horse shot under him — was 
wounded and taken prisoner. Four six-pounders were 
ordered up before the house from which the British were 
firing under cover. These pieces finally fell into their 
hands, and the Americans retired out of the reach of 
their fire. They left a strong picquet on the field 
of battle, and retreated to the nearest water in their 
rear. 

In the evening of the next day. Lieutenant Colonel 
Stewart destroyed a great quantity of his stores, aban- 
doned Eutaw, and moved towards Charleston, leav- 
ing upwards of seventy of his wounded, and a thousand 
stand of arms. He was pursued for several miles, but 
without efi*ect. The loss of the British amounted to up- 
wards of eleven hundred men. That of the Americans 
was about five hundred, in which number were sixty offi- 
cers. Among the killed of Greene's army, the brave 
Lieutenant Colonel Campbell of the Virginia line was 



CONGRESS HONORS GREENE. 185 

the theme of universal lamentation. While with great 
firmness he was leading on his brigade to that charge 
which determined the fate of the day, he received a mor- 
tal wound. After his fall he inquired who gave way ; 
and being informed the British were fleeing in all quar- 
ters, he added, " I die contented," and immediately 
expired. 

Congress honored General Greene, for his decisive 
conduct in this action, with a British standard and a 
golden medal ; and they also voted their thanks to the 
different corps and their commanders. 

After the action at Eutaw the Americans retired 
to their former position on the high hills of Santee, and 
the British took post in the vicinity of Monk's Corner. 
While they lay there, a small party of American cavalry, 
commanded by Colonel Mayham, took upwards of eighty 
prisoners within sight of their main army. The British 
no more acted with their usual vigor. On the slightest 
appearance of danger, they discovered a disposition to 
flee scarcely inferior to what was exhibited the year be- 
fore by the American militia 



18Q LIEE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Events succeeding the battle of Eutaw — Marion chosen to a seat in 
the Assembly of South Carolina — Laws passed by the Assembly — 
Marion's brigade sufifers a severe defeat in his absence — He returns 
to the brigade and restores order and rein spires confidence — Greene 
takes post at Bacon's bridge. — Mutiny in his army. 

At the battle of Eutaw each party had pretensions to 
the victory, and each claimed the merit of having gained 
it with inferior numbers. The truth probably is that 
their numbers were nearly equal. 

Nor can the claim of either to the victory be pro- 
nounced unequivocal. Unconnected with its conse- 
quences, the fortune of the day was nearly balanced. 
But if the consequences be taken into the account, the 
victory unquestionably belonged to Greene. The result 
of this, as of the two preceding battles fought by him in 
the Carolinas, was the expulsion of the hostile army 
from the territory which was the immediate object of 
contest. 

Four six-pounders, two of which had been taken in 
the early part of the day, were brought i>o play upon the 
house, and, being pushed so near as to be within the 
command of its fire, were unavoidably abandoned ; but a 
three-pounder which had been also taken, was brought 



STUART AND MACARTHUR JOIN. 187 

off by Captain Lieutenant Gaines, whose conduct was 
mentioned with distinction by General Greene. Thus 
the trophies of victory were divided. 

On the day succeeding the action, Nov. 9, Lieutenant 
Col. Stewart marched from Eutaw to meet Major Mc Ar- 
thur, who was conducting a body of troops from Charles- 
ton. The junction was effected about fourteen miles 
from Eutaw ; and this movement saved McArthur from 
Marion and Lee, who had been detached on the morning 
of the same day to intercept any reinforcement which 
might be coming from below. Stewart continued his re- 
treat to Monk's Corner, to which place he was followed 
by Greene, Nov. 15, who, on finding that the numbers 
and position of the British army were such as to ren- 
der an attack unadvisable, returned to the high hills 
of Santee. 

The ravages of cli^ase were added to the loss sus- 
tained in battle, and the army remained for some time 
in too feeble a condition for active enterprise. 

The capitulation at Yorktown was soon followed by 
the evacuation of Wilmington, in North Carolina, and 
the British seemed to limit their views in the south to 
the country adjacent to the sea coast. As the cool sea- 
son approached, (Nov. 18,) the diseases of the American 
army abated ; and Greene, desirous of partaking in the 
abundance of the lower country, marched from the high 
hills of Santee towards the Four Holes, a branch of tlie 
Edisto. Leaving the army to be conducted by Colonel 
Williams, he proceeded in person at the head of his cav- 
alry, supported by about two hundred infantry, towards the 
British post at Dorchester, where six hundred and fifty 



188 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION, 

regular troops and two hundred royal militia were un- 
derstood to be stationed. 

Though his march was conducted with the utmost 
secrecy, the country through which he passed contained 
so many disaffected, that it was impossible to conceal 
this movement, and intelligence of his approach was 
communicated to the officer commanding in Dorchester, 
the night before he reached that place. The advance, 
commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Hampton, met a 
small party, which he instantly charged, and, after kill- 
ing and taking several, drove the residue over the bridge 
under cover of their works. In the course of the follow- 
ing night, the stores at Dorchester were burnt, and the 
garrison retired to the Quarter House, where their prin- 
cipal force was encamped. Greene returned to the 
army at the Round 0, at which place he purposed to 
await the arrival of the reinforcements marching from 
the north under the command of General St. Clair. In 
the meantime, General Marion and Lieutenant Col. Lee 
were stationed on each side of Ashley, so as to cover 
the country between the Cooper and the Edisto ; thus 
confining the influence of the British arms to Charleston 
neck, and the adjacent islands.* 

* During this campaign a very effective expedition against the 
Cherokees was conducted by General Pickens. When the struggle 
for South Carolina recommenced, those savages were stimulated 
to renew their incursions into the settlements of the whites. At the 
head of about four hundred mounted militia, Pickens penetrated into 
their country, burned thirteen of their villages, killed upwards of forty 
Indians, and took a number of prisoners, without the loss of a single 
man. On this occasion a new and formidable mode of attack was in- 
troduced. The militia horse rushed upon the Indians, and charged 



FALSE REPORT. 189 

While in his camp at the Round 0, General Greene 
was informed that large reinforcements from Ireland and 
New York, were expected by the army in Charleston. 
This intelligence excited the more alarm, because the 
term of service for which the levies from Virginia were 
engaged was about expiring, and no adequate measures 
had been taken for supplying their places. It proved 
untrue ; but such was its impression, that the general ad- 
dressed a letter to the governor of South Carolina, in 
which, after taking a serious view of the state of his 
army, he recommended that it should be recruited from 
the slaves. The governor thought the proposition of 
sufficient importance to be laid before the legislature, 
which was soon afterwards convened ; but the measure 
was not adopted. 

On the 4th of January, 1782, General St. Clair, who 
conducted the reinforcement from the north, arrived in 
camp, and, five days afterward, General Wayne,* with 

them sword in hand. TerrijBed at the rapidity of the pursuit, the 
Cherokees humbly sued for peace, which was granted on terras calcu- 
lated to restrain depredations in future. 

* In the judicious orders given to Wayne, Greene endeavored to 
impress on that officer the importance of a course of conduct, always 
observed by himself, which might tend to conciliate parties. " Try," 
says he, " by every means in your power, to soften the malignity and 
dreadful resentments subsisting between Whig and Tory ; and put a 
stop as much as possible to that cruel custom of putting men to death 
after they surrender themselves prisoners. The practice of plnnder- 
ing you will endeavor to check as much as possible ; and point out to 
the militia the ruinous consequences of the policy. Let your disci- 
pline be as regular and as rigid as the nature and constitution of your 
troops will admit." — 2 Johnson, 277. 



190 LIFE OP GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

his brigade, and the remnant of the third regiment of 
dragoons, commanded by Colonel White, was detached 
over the Savannah for the recovery of Georgia. 

General Greene crossed the Edisto and took post, 
Jan. 16, six miles in advance of Jacksonborough, on the 
road leading to Charleston, for the purpose of covering 
the state les-islature, which assembled at that nlace on 
the 18th. Thus was civil government re-established in 
South Carolina, and that state restored to the union. 

Governor Rutledge, being persuaded that the happy 
period had at length arrived for the restoration of the 
government, had issued a proclamation in a few weeks 
after the battle of Eutaw, convening the general as- 
sembly at Jacksonborough, a small village upon the 
Edisto river, about thirty-five miles from Charleston. 
Invested with dictatorial powers, the governor not only 
issued writs for the intervening elections, but also pre- 
scribed the qualifications of the electors. 

The right of suiFrage was restricted to those inhabi- 
tants who had uniformly resisted the invader ; and to 
such who, having accepted British protection, had after- 
wards united with their countrymen in opposition to the 
royal authority before the 27th day of September ; in 
the early part of which month the battle of Eutaw 
had been fought. The exchange of prisoners which had 
previously taken place, liberated many respectable and 
influential characters too long lost to the state. 

These citizens had now returned, and were ready to 
assist with their counsel in repairing the desolation of 
war. This period presents an interesting epoch in the 
annals of the South. From all quarters were flocking 



RETURN OF PRISONERS. 191 

home our unfortunate maltreated prisoners. The old 
and the young, the rich and the poor, hastened to their 
native soil ; burying their particular griefs in the joy 
universally felt in consequence of the liberation of their 
country. 

They found their houses burnt, their plantations laid 
waste, their herds and flocks destroyed, and the rich re- 
ward^ of a life of industry and economy dissipated. 
Without money, without credit, with debilitated constitu- 
tions, with scars and aches, this brave and patriotic 
groupe gloried in the adversity they had experienced, 
because the price of their personal liberty and of na- 
tional independence. They had lost their wealth, they 
had lost their health, and had lost the props of their de- 
clining years in the field of battle ; but they had estab- 
lished the independence of their country ; they had se- 
cured to themselves and posterity the birth-right of 
Americans. They forgot past agony in the delight of 
present enjoyment, and in the prospect of happiness to 
ages yet unborn. From this class of citizens the sena- 
tors lately chosen were chiefly selected. 

In addition to this class of citizens there were many 
officers of the army, chosen as representatives in the 
Assembly. Among them were Sumter and Marion. The 
latter was returned by the district of St. John Berkley, 
which he had represented, as already related, on a previous 
occasion. The assembly passed a number of important 
laws. One was for the subsistence of the army by civil 
authority. Another law was passed for regulating the 
militia, and another for raising the State quota of the 
Continental troops ; and still another for amercing and 



192 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

conjSscating the estates of certain loyalists, and for 
banishing some of the most criminal among them. With 
respect to the last of these laws, which may seem severe, 
it must be recollected that the loyalists thus punished 
had been offered pardon and immunity in a proclamation 
of the governor issued some time before ; and that their 
proceedings with respect to the property and even the 
lives of the patriots had been such as to justify severe 
reprisals. 

Marion's absence from his brigade during the session 
of the legislature appears to have nearly occasioned its 
destruction. He would not have left it if a quorum 
could have been assured without his presence. 

Before he set out for Jacksonborough, he had selected a 
station for his militia near the Santee river, remote from 
Charleston. His absence from his command, notwith- 
standing the distance of the selected position, inspired 
the enemy with the hope that a corps which had hereto- 
fore been invulnerable might now be struck. A detach- 
ment of cavalry was accordingly prepared for the medi- 
tated enterprise, and placed under the orders of Lieu- 
tenant Colonel Thompson. This officer having passed 
the Cooper river near Charleston, late in the evening, 
proceeded towards the Santee. Observing the greatest 
secrecy, and pushing his march with diligence, he fell 
upon the militia camp before the dawn of day, and 
completely routed the corps. Some were killed, some 
wounded, and the rest dispersed, with little or no loss on 
the part of the British. Major Benson, an active officer, 
was among the killed. 

Thompson hastened back to Charleston with his de- 



MUTINY IX Greene's army. 193 

tacliment ; and Marion, returning from Jacksonborough, 
reassembled his militia. 

He arrived at the scene of the disaster in season to 
engage in an action with the triumj^hant enemy and hold 
him in check, while the brigade recovered its wonted 
state of effectiveness. 

After the adjournment of the Assembly at Jackson- 
borough, General Greene with the main army took post 
at Bacon's Bridge at the head of Ashley river. 

During the stay of the army in this place. General 
Greene had to call in the faithful brigade of Marion, to 
aid in repressing a mutiny which threatened to spread 
through his ranks. This affair is thus noticed by Colonel 
Lee in his Memoirs : 

At this juncture treason had found its way into our 
camp. The inactivity which had succeeded the preceding 
series of bold and vigorous service was a fit season for 
recollection of grievances long endured, and which, being 
severely felt, began to rankle in every breast. Hunger 
sometimes pinched, at other times cold oppressed, and 
always want of pay reminded us as well of the injustice 
of our government as of our pressing demands upon it. 
The Pennsylvania line had joined the army ; the soldiers 
of which being chiefly foreigners, were not so disposed 
to forget and to forgive as were our native troops. 
Even heretofore this line had pushed their insubordination 
so far as to abandon in a body the commander in chief, 
to drive off their officers, to commit the eagles to base 
hands, and to march under the orders of leaders elected 
by themselves. 

They justified this daring mutiny by referring to their 
13 



194 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCLS MARIOX. 

contract of enlistment, which they alleged had been 
violated ; and it must be admitted that this allegation 
was too well founded. Soldiers who had enlisted for 
three years had been detained after the period of their 
service expired, under the pretext that they had enlisted 
for the war. As soon as this injustice was redressed, 
and some pecuniary accommodation rendered, all not 
entitled to their discharge returned to their duty. 

The violation of contract is always morally wrong; 
and however it may sometimes yield present good, it is 
generally overbalanced by the subsequent injury. The 
government which is under the necessity of resorting to 
armed men, enlisted for a term of service, to protect its 
rights, ought to take care that the contract of enlistment 
is fair as well as legal, and that it be justly executed; 
or they afford a pretext for incalculable ills, which, 
though often avoided from the force of circumstances, is 
sometimes productive of irreparable misfortunes to the 
nation. Every effort was made at the time by the enemy 
to turn this menacing occurrence into the deepest injury; 
but the fidelity of the revolting troops remained invul- 
nerable ; the best possible apology for their -previous 
conduct. 

The present mutiny was marked by a very different 
character. It was grounded on the breach of allegiance, 
and reared in all the foulness of perfidy. Greene him- 
self was to be seized and delivered to the enemy. How 
could treason ascend higher ? 

A Serjeant in the Pennsylvania line took the lead in 
this daring conspiracy ; a soldier heretofore much es- 
teemed, and possessing talents adapted to the enterprise. 



DECISION OF GENERAL GREENE. 195 

No doubt exists but that lie and his associates held con- 
tinual correspondence with the enemy, and that an 
arranged plan had been concerted for the protection of 
the mutineers by the co-operating movements of the 
British force. 

The vigilance and penetration of Greene could neither 
be eluded nor overreached. He well knew that the 
soldiers were discontented ; nor was he insensible to the 
cause of their complaints. But he confided in the rec- 
titude of congress, and in the well tried fidelity of that 
portion of the array which had so often fought by his 
side. He nevertheless dreaded the effects of the wiles 
of the artful and wicked when applied to the inflammable 
mass around him. 

To the enemy's camp and to that section of his troops 
most likely to forget self-respect and patriotism, he di- 
rected his close and vigorous attention. From both he 
drew information which convinced him that his appre- 
hensions were not groundless. Bedoubling his exertions, 
as well to discover the plan and progress of the conspira- 
tors as to thwart their designs, he learnt that the Serjeant, 
supposed to be the leader, had, by indulging unwarily 
the free declaration of his sentiments, subjected himself 
to martial law, and alarmed all the faithful soldiers, who, 
though prone to unite in the declarations of the wrongs 
they had suffered, and of their determination to obtain 
redress, had never entertained a thought of executing 
their views by the prostitution of military subordination, 
much less by the perpetration of the blackest treason, of 
the basest ingratitude. Greene, acting with his usual 
decision, ordered the arrest and trial of the serjeant. 



196 LIFE OP GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

This order was immediately executed ; and the prisoner 
being by the court martial condemned to die, the sen- 
tence of the court was forthwith carried into effect. 
(22d April.) 

Some others, believed to be associates with the Serjeant, 
(among whom were Peters and Owens,) domestics in the 
general's family, were also tried ; but the testimony was 
not deemed conclusive by the court. Twelve others 
deserted in the course of the night and got safe to 
Charleston. 

Thus the decisive conduct of the general crushed in- 
stantly this daring conspiracy ; and the result proved, as 
often happens, that although the temper of complaint 
and of discontent pervaded the army, but few of the 
soldiers were in reality guilty of the criminal intentions 
which were believed at first to have spread far through 
the ranks. 

While the arrests and trials were progressing in our 
camp, and while General Greene continued to watch the 
movements of the enemy, they disclosed a spirit of ad- 
venture, which had been for some months dormant. 
Large bodies of horse and foot were put in motion ; some 
of which, in the course of the night, approached us with 
unusual confidence. The boldness tended to confirm the 
suspicions before entertained that the enemy was not 
only apprized of the intentions of our mutineers, but had 
prepared to second their designs. General Greene, 
feeling his critical situation, contented himself for the 
present with detaching select parties to hover around the 
enemy for the purpose of observing his motions, with the 
determination to strike his adversary as soon as he should 



O'NEAL PURSUED BY FRAZER. 197 

find his army restored to its pristine discipline and char- 
acter. On the morning (24th) after the execution of the 
traitor, Captain O'Neal of the legion cavalry fell in with 
a body of the enemy's horse under Major Frazer. 

O'Neal, being very inferior in strength to his antago- 
nist, retired, and was vigorously pursued by Frazer. 
During his flight he perceived a second body of the enemy 
in possession of his line of retreat. He was now com- 
pelled to change his course ; and with the utmost diffi- 
culty escaped himself, after losing ten of his dragoons. 
Frazer had advanced as high as Stan's bridge, the place 
assigned for the reception of that portion of the con- 
spirators who had undertaken to betray the person of 
their general. On his return he was met by O'Neal, not 
far from Dorchester. This was the sole adventure re- 
sulting to the enemy in a conjuncture from which he ex- 
pected to derive signal benefits. 



198 LIFE OF GENEEAL FRANCIS MARION. 



/ 



CHAPTER XX I. 

Marlon takes post at Sinkler's plantation — Suppresses an Insurrection 
in North Carolina — Second treaty with Gainey— Rescues Butler — 
Affair of Fanning — Marion defeats Frazer — General Leslie seeks 
an armistice, which Greene refuses — Leslie's incursions into the 
country to obtain provisions — Resisted by Gist's detachment — 
Colonel Laurens killed — Evacuation of Charleston by the British 
army. 

General Greene had summoned Marion to the 
camp on the occurrence of the mutiny ; and his advance 
towards Greene with the brigade, had overawed the mu- 
tineers and discouraged the advance of the British, who 
were to co-operate with the mutineers in the destruction 
of the American army. 

Marion's next movement, when the mutiny had been 
suppressed, was to protect Georgetown against an ap- 
prehended attack of the British from Charleston. He 
marched 160 miles to White's bridge, where the alarm 
was discovered to be unfounded, (April 1782). With a force 
of 200 militia and 120 horse, he took post at Sinkler's plan- 
tation, on the Santee. While he was posted here, a m^es- 
senger was sent to North Carolina to stir up a new in- 
surrection among the loyalists in order to draw Marion 
from the protection of the country in the neighborhood 



SUBMISSION OF GAIXEY. 199 

of tlie Santee. Having succeeded in tins object, the 
messenger was intercepted by Marion on his return and 
summarily executed. 

Marion being now summoned to the camp of Greene, 
had only reached Dorchester, when he learnt that Major 
Gainey was at the head of an insurrection on the banks 
of the Pedee. He turned about and succeeded in sur- 
prising Gainey, and bringing him to terms of submission, 
which proved more lading than those which Horry had, 
a year before, compelled him to subscribe. On the oc- 
casion of the new treaty, 500 tories laid down their arms 
at Burch's mill, on the 8th of June. Instead of becom- 
ing prisoners of war, they agreed to remain peaceable, to 
deliver up all property which they had plundered, and 
to sign a declaration of allegiance to the United States. 
For this they received a full pardon for past treasons, 
and all who declined to accept these terms were allowed 
to retire to the British lines. Gainey, by permission of 
Marion, went to Charleston, surrendered his commission 
to Colonel Balfour, and returning, joined the American 
army, in which he afterwards did good service. Many 
of his men followed his example. A notorious offender 
named Butler, seeking the benefit of this treaty, had a 
narrow escape from the death which he richly deserved. 
Marion had to protect him by taking him to his own 
tent, and resisting the attemps of his own followers to 
destroy him. 

A ruffian named Fannino; sought to renew hostilities ; 
but being bafiled by Marion, he sent a flag of truce, re- 
questing a safe conduct for his wife to Charleston. This 
was instantly granted, and Fanning, as Marion had 



200 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

foreseen, abandoned his followers and fled to Charleston 
himself. 

Leaving the neighborhood of the Pedee nnder the 
protection of Colonel Baxter with 150 men, Marion now 
retm^ned (July 1782) to the Santee. By the union of a 
new corps under Major Conyers, and the corps of horse 
nnder Mayham, with his own militia, he was now at the 
head of a force of 300 dismounted infantry and a respect- 
able body of cavalry. 

With these he took post on the Wassamasaw, for the 
purpose of covering the country and protecting it from 
the marauding incursions of the enemy. 

The British were now tired of the war, and they w^ere 
preparing to evacuate the country. They were in want 
of provisions, and sent expeditions from Charleston into 
the interior to obtain them. With one of these maraud- 
ing parties under Major Frazer, Marion had a brisk en- 
counter at Watboo, in which the enemy suffered a signal 
repulse. In this affair Major Gainey and a considerable 
body of new converts signalized their fidelity to the pa- 
triot cause. 

The officer now in command of the British garrison at 
Charleston, General Leslie, had proposed a cessation of 
hostilities, and that his troops might be supplied w^ith 
fresh provisions, in exchange for articles of the last ne- 
cessity in the American camp. The policy of govern- 
ment being adverse to this proposition. General Greene 
was under the necessity of refusing his assent to it. 

Foiled in accomplishing his object in the way desired, 
the British general prepared to resume his suspended 
incursions into the country, determined to effect by force 



ATTEMPT TO PROCURE PROVISIONS. 201 

the procurement of those supplies which he had flattered 
himself with obtaining by purchase. Supported by ma- 
rine co-operation applicable with readiness to all the cir- 
cumjacent country by the facilities of its interior naviga- 
tion, and possessing the contiguous islands, with strong 
detachments from his army, General Leslie proceeded to 
the execution of his determination, fearless of conse- 
quences, but lamenting the necessity of wasting human 
life in useless battle. 

A detachment of light infantry, attended by armed 
vessels, passed along the interior navigation, and having 
reached Combahee river, began to collect and convey 
provisions to the transports which accompanied the ex- 
pedition for the purpose of transporting to Charleston 
whatever might be procured. General Greene, never 
doubting Leslie's execution of his menace, held his light 
corps ready to counteract any attempt he might make. 
As soon, therefore, as he became apprised of the move- 
ment of the British detachment, he directed Brigadier 
Gist to advance in pursuit. Gist was soon in motion, 
and after a long and rapid march, gained the neighbor- 
hood of the enemy, then at Page's point, on the Comba- 
hee. At this moment, Lieut. Col. Laurens, commanding 
the infantry under Gist, joined, heaving, as soon as informed 
of the march of the light troops, left his sick bed to 
hasten to the field of battle. Laurens no sooner over- 
took the corps than, by permission of the brigadier, he 
put himself at the head of the American van. Disco- 
vering that the enemy were preparing to retire, he deter- 
mined, with his inferior force, though out of supporting 
distance, to commence the attack. This bold decision 



202 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

was gallantly executed ; but incapable of making any 
serious impresssion from the inadequacy of his force, he 
fell in the vain attempt at the head of his intrepid band, 
closing his short and splendid life in the lustre of hero- 
ism. Gist now got up with the main body, and took 
one of the vessels from the enemy returning to Charles- 
ton. 

The British general, finding himself foiled in his ex- 
pectations, henceforward discontinued these predatory 
inroads, and confined his exertions in the collection of 
provisions to the islands along the coast, and to the 
country contiguous to the interior navigation, remote 
from the American camp. 

General Leslie had' declared, in his orders of the 7th 
of August, his intention of withdrawing his army ; but 
September had passed away, and Charleston still re- 
mained in possession of the enemy. 

In the course of the preceding month. Governor Mat- 
thews had contrived, through his influence with some of 
the royalists in Charleston, who had resolved to throw 
themselves on the mercy of their country, to procure a 
small quantity of the most necessary articles of clothing. 
This fortunate acquisition, added to a supply forwarded 
from Philadelphia by means of the superintendent of 
finance, enabled the general to cover the most naked of 
his army ; and the unceasing exertions of the state com- 
missary, aided by the co-operation of the quartermaster 
general, produced an agreeable change in the quantity 
and quality of provisions. Still the situation of the 
army was deplorable, and much remained to be done to 
give durable comfort to the troops, whose past distress 



CONDITION OF THE ARMY. 203 

is tlius described by General Greene in an official letter 
written on the thirteenth of August. ''For upwards of 
of two months more than one third of our army was 
naked, with nothing but a breech cloth about them, and 
never came out of their tents ; and the rest were as rag- 
ged as wolves. Our condition was little better in the 
articles of provision. Our beef was perfect carrion ; and 
even bad as it was, w^e were frequently without any. 
An army thus clothed and thus fed, may be considered 
in a desperate situation." 

The delay and uncertainty in evacuating Charleston, 
however productive of gloomy forebodings in the Ameri- 
can camp, did not stop the enterprise of adventurous in- 
dividuals, w^ho, believing the event at hand, seized, as 
they presumed, the sure opportunity of advancing their 
fortunes. Many of these procured admittance into 
Charleston, and entered into contracts with the British 
merchants, whom they found as desirous of selling their 
stock on hand, as they were eager to buy it. 

Among the adventurers who, about the end of August, 
or beginning of September, made their way into Charles- 
ton, was Mr. John Banks from Virginia. This gentle- 
man, (no doubt with permission,) after a short stay in town, 
visited the American army. Here he was introduced 
to General Greene. Well knowing the naked condition 
of his countrymen in arms, and convinced of the gene- 
ral's solicitude to relieve their sufferings, he offered to 
procure and deliver whatever might be wanted. Greene 
having been, as before mentioned, authorized by the 
superintendance of finance to enter into contracts for 
supplying his army, did not hesitate in accepting Banks' 



204 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

proposal, and a contract was arranged with him for the 
requisite clothing to be delivered on the evacuation of 
Charleston. This was the first opportunity which had 
presented of effecting the long wished and much desired 
object. It was embraced with avidity, and Mr. Banks 
completely executed his contract at the designated pe- 
riod, to the great joy of the general and army. 

The preparations for evacuating Charleston began 
now to assume a determinate character; and the doubts 
heretofore entertained on that subject dissipated. The 
American general held a position at Ashley hill, shutting 
up every avenue to intercourse between town and coun- 
try. The enemy no longer attempted to interrupt this 
operation, but fixed in his design of withdrawing from 
South Carolina, he avoided unavailing conflict. Thus 
passed the autumn, and General Leslie, although never in- 
termitting his preparations to retire, still continued with 
his army in Charleston. At length, early in December, 
the embarkation of the military stores, ordnance, and 
baggage, commenced. When this was completed, the 
troops followed, and on the 14th, the embarkation was 
finished. General Wayne, with the legion and light in- 
fantry, had, for some days previous, by order of Greene, 
placed himself near to the quarter house for the purpose 
of entering the town as soon as it should be evacuated. 
To this officer, Leslie informally intimated his wish to 
prevent injury to the town, in which he presumed on 
cordial coincidence from the American general, and 
which he insinuated was only to be efi*ected by prohibit- 
ing every attempt to interrupt the embarkation of the 
retiring army. 



EVACUATION OF CHAIlLESTOlSr, 205 

Wayne communicated to the general the intimation he 
had received from Leslie, who directed him to conform 
to the same. 

Accordingly no effort was made to disturb the enemy's 
embarkation, w^hich took place without the smallest con- 
fusion or disorder : the light troops under Wayne enter- 
ing into town close after the retirement of the British 
rear. 

Thus was the metropolis of South Carolina restored 
to the United States, after having been in possession of 
the enemy from its surrender to Sir Henry Clinton on 
the 12th of May, 1780. 

The governor with his suite was escorted into the cap- 
ital on the same day. On the next the civil authority 
resumed its former functions, and the din of arms yielded 
to the innocent and pleasing occupations of peace. 



20G LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Marion's parting with the Brigade — His resemblance to Washington 
— He retires to his plantation — Finds it desolated — Resumes his 
agricultural pursuits — Is elected Senator — The Confiscation act — ■ 
Anecdote of his magnanimity — Voted thanks and a medal by the 
senate — Appointed to command Fort Johnson — Marion's marriage 
— His death — His character. 

After the evacuation of Charleston by the British 
army, Marion assembled his brigade at Walboo and took 
an affectionate leave of them. His address on this 
occasion was characterized by his peculiar modesty and 
simplicity. He called to their recollection the scenes of 
their past services in the war of the Revolution, thanked 
them for their services, and bade them farewelL 

In reviewing his career as a commander, we are struck 
with its resemblance to that of Washington. It was the || 

characteristic merit of both these illustrious men to ac- 
complish almost without means what other men can 
hardly accomplish with all the means and appliances 
thoy could desire. By dint of their own force of char- 
acter, Vfashington and Marion were both able to keep 
together and command the efficient services of men, wdio 
were without pay, often without ammunition, with imper- 
fect arms, almost destitute of clothing, and frequently 
quite destitute of provisions. Yet these soldiers re- 



RETIRES TO III3 PLANTATION. 20T 

mained in each case entirely devoted to their respective 
commanders and ever ready to do battle at their com- 
mand. Each accomplished his objects not by brilliant 
and imposing victories over the enemy, but by patiently 
and unweariedly opposing him, avoiding pitched battles, 
wearing him out by persevering hostility and unceasing 
vigilance. Although both Washington and Marion were 
held in high estimation by their cotemporaries, their 
peculiar merits are better understood now than they 
were in their own time, and their glory will go on increas- 
ing in brilliancy for ages to come. 

After taking leave of his companions in arms, the im- 
mortal "Brigade," Marion retired to his plantation in 
St. John's Berkley. He found it literally desolated by 
the ravages of war. Being within a mile of one of the 
ordinary routes of the British army, it had been exposed 
to repeated depredations. Half of his negroes had been 
removed. The remainder had escaped capture by se- 
creting themselves on the approach of the enemy, in order 
to save their future services for their master, who had 
won their strong personal attachment; so that on his 
return to the plantation he had still ten workers left. 
But this was all except the land and the buildings. Stock, 
utensils, furniture, subsistence for his servants — all were 
to be purchased. He had received no pay for the in- 
valuable services which he had rendered the state, and 
even the promised half pay of the retiring officer was 
withheld. But he nevertheless went to work cheerfully 
to repair, in part, the losses he had sustained, his oiily 
dependence being his own industry and economy. 



208 LIFE OF GENERAL FEANCIS MARION. 

But the public still required his services and he once 
more responded to the call of his country. 

Accordingly we find him again taking his place in the 
Senate of South Carolina as the member from St. John's. 
The " Confiscation act" at first received his sanction. It 
passed originally in January, 1782, and devoted the pro- 
perty of tories to meet the public wants. But when 
peace was fully restored, Marion could no longer approve 
of this policy, and his voice was raised against it with 
such effect that it could not long be preserved. We have 
at this time an incident illustrating the lofty independence 
of character which distinguished him. A bill was intro- 
duced exempting from legal responsibility many American 
officers and soldiers, who had been active partisans, and 
who had often been compelled to use private property in 
securing their ends. The name of Marion was included, 
but when it was announced he rose, and with a brow 
flushed with generous shame he insisted that his name 
should be stricken off. "If," he said, " I have given any 
occasion for complaint, I am ready to answer in property 
and person. If I have wronged any man, I am willing 
to make him restitution." It is not wonderful that such 
a man should have been honored by all who knew him. 

On the 26th of February, 1783, the following resolu- 
tions were unanimously adopted by the Senate of South 
Carolina: — "Resolved, That the thanks of this House be 
given to Brigadier General Marion in his place, as a mem- 
ber of this House, for his eminent and conspicuous ser- 
vices to his country. Resolved, That a gold medal be 
given to Brigadier General Marion, as a mark of public 



DEATH OF MARION. 209 

approbation for his great, glorious, and meritorious con- 
duct." 

In 178-1, it was judged expedient by the legislature to 
fortify anew Fort Johnson, in Charleston harbor, and 
Marion was appointed to its command, with a salary of 
five hundred pounds.^ The duties were almost nominal, 
and it is probable that the salary was intended rather to 
pay a past debt of gratitude than to compensate for pre- 
sent services. It was afterwards considerably reduced, 
and the brave soldier of the Revolution might have suf- 
fered want, but for an unexpected change in the even 
tenor of his way. Among his acquaintances was Miss 
Mary Videau, a maiden lady of the Huguenot descent, 
of considerable wealth, and of most estimable character. 
She admired Marion so much that her feelings for him 
assumed a more tender character, and when their friends 
discovered this, it was not long ere they secured an in- 
terchange of vievv^s on the subject- When they were 
united in marriage, Marion was more than fifty years of 
age, and we have reason to believe that the lady was not 
much his junior. They were not blessed with children, 
but they lived together in tranquil content. She was 
always his companion in his excursions through the 
country, and tradition has preserved many proofs of the 
mutual affection they cherished for each other, even to 
the end of life. 

Thus peaceful and happy were the closing years of a 

career which had once been one of excitement and bloody 

conflict. On the 27th day of February, 1795, at his 

home in St. John's parish, Francis Marion breathed his 

last. He had reached his sixty-third year. In the hour 
14 



210 LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 

of death he was composed, and was comforted by the 
hope of future happiness. " Thank God," he exclaimed, 
" I can lay my hand on my heart and say that since I 
came to man's estate I have never intentionally done 
wrong to any." 

In the life of this brave man, says a late writer, we 
see disclosed the true secret of American independence. 
We do not find in his course those exploits which dazzle 
the eyes of the soul, and fill us with admiration even 
for a polluted character ; but w*e find patient courage, firm- 
ness in danger, resolution in adversity, hardy endurance 
amid suifering and want. In hunger, and nakedness, and 
toil, he lived, and seemed to live, only that liberty might 
not die. While the names of many of the greatest con- 
querors shall be remembered only to serve as beacons to 
posterity, the name of Marion will grow dearer to every 
patriot with each succeeding age of the land that has 
had the privilege of giving him birth.* 

* Wasliington and the Generals of the Revolution. 



MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 



LIFE OF 



MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE, 



CHAPTER I. 



Family and birth of Moultrie— Hig services in the war with the Che- 
rokees — Returns to his plantation— Condition of South Carolina— 
Moultrie takes an active part at the opening of the Revolution- 
Member of Provincial Congress — Chosen Colonel of the famous 
Second Regiment of South Carolina — Seizes the king's stores of 
arms and ammunition — Devises the flag — Drives the British shipg 
out of Charleston harbor. 

General William Moultrie was descended from dis- 
tinguished Scottish ancestry, and was born in South 
Carolina, in 1730. His education was respectable for 
the time and country in which he was reared ; but, al- 
though he has given to the world two octavo volumes of 
" Ilemoirs of the American Revolution, as far as it rela- 
ted to the States of NoHh and South Carolina and Q-eor- 
gia,'' he has left no memoir of himself, excepting an 
incidental account of his services in the revolutionary 
war. Of his early life we have consequently no record. 

(213) 



214 LIFE 01? MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

He appears, however, on the theatre of public life, when 
quite a young man, and, as he always played a conspic- 
uous part, the history of his time furnishes a satisfactory 
account of his life. 

The first military service of Moultrie of which we find 
any record is in the campaign against the Cherokee In- 
dians, in which he served as captain, having Marion for 
lieutenant. A full account of this campaign will be 
found in Chapter Y. of the Life of Marion, in the preced- 
ing part of this volume. It took place in 1761, when 
Moultrie was thirty-one years of age, and in the full 
vigor of manhood. The service was extremely arduous 
and perilous, imposing on the army very long and labo- 
rious marches through dreary wastes and deep forests 
and swamps, and exposing the officers and men to the 
ambushes of savage foes. It terminated in the utter de- 
feat of the Indians, who were compelled to sue for 
peace. 

Moultrie profited well by his training in this hardy 
school of warfare, and he was ever afterwards distin- 
guished not only by the most unblenching courage, but 
bv a degree of coolness and composure in the most peril- 
ous emergencies of war, which attracted the admiration 
of all his cotemporaries. 

After the conclusion of the Cherokee war, Moultrie 
returned to his plantation, in the district of St. Helena, 
and resumed the quiet pursuits of a southern planter. 
South Carolina, in the period which ensued between tJie 
Cherokee war (1761) and the breaking out of the revo- 
lution, was in a highly prosperous state. The planters 
accumulated property rapidly, and Charleston, the capi- 



SPIRIT OF THE CAROLINIANS. 215 

tal of the colony, was one of the greatest emporiums of 
trade in North America. The wealth of her citizens, 
their high intellectual cultivation and refinement, and 
the noble and liberal spirit which had grown up among 
them are disclosed incidentally by many of the incidents 
of the revolutionary war. Indeed, it might be a matter 
of surprise, that a colony so highly favored, and which 
had apparently so little to gain by taking part in the 
Revolution, should not have imitated the example of 
Canada, and adhered to the royal cause ; more especially 
as the principal theatre of the political debates which 
preceded open hostilities was so remote from her bor- 
ders. 

But the Carolinians were as generous and brave as 
they were rich and prosperous. They sympathized in 
all the feelings of the Massachusetts and Virginia pa- 
triots who led the contest; and when the tocsin of war 
sounded from the plains of Lexington and Concord, they 
instantly buckled on their armor and prepared for the 
battle field. 

But many preliminary steps had already been taken 
previous to this period ; and in these Moultrie took a 
leading part. He was one of the noble and generous 
spirits who periled all, and sacrificed nearly all in the 
great contest. At the time when the war broke out, his 
agricultural labors had prospered so well that he had a 
fine plantation and two hundred negroes ; so that he was 
no mere military adventurer, but a gentleman of position 
and substance, who had a large interest in the welfare 
of the country. 

In the list of members of the first Provincial Congress, 



216 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

held at Charleston, January 11th, 1775, we find the 
name of Col. William Moultrie, as delegate from St. 
Helena. " The acts of this Congress furnish an honor- 
able record of the spirit and the wisdom of the time and 
people. The progress of events kept him active. Bri- 
tain, rashly resolving to coerce rather than conciliate, the 
colonists began to look around them for weapons of de- 
fence. The South Carolinians were greatly deficient in 
supplies of this nature. But the king's stores were tol- 
erably well provided, and Moultrie was one of a party 
of patriotic citizens to apply the wrench to bolt and bar, 
at midnight, when it became necessary to relieve the 
public arsenals of their hoarded arms and ammunition. 
The king's stores were disburdened, by this bold pro- 
ceeding, of twelve hundred stand of arms, and some 
three thousand pounds of powder. ^ Fairly entered upon 
the business,' says Moultrie himself, in his Memoirs, 
' we could not step back, and not break open the maga- 
zines.' The news of the battle of Lexington led to the 
organization of the militia as regular troops, and Moul- 
trie was elected to the colonelcy of the Second Regiment 
of South Carolina. He designed the temporary flag of 
the colony, under whose folds its first victory was gained. 
This was a single field of blue, with a silver crescent in 
the dexter corner, the design suggested by the uniform 
of the state troops, which was blue, and by the silver 
ornament upon their caps. Two British sloops-of-war 
occupied the harbor of Charleston, and daily, by their 
threats, kept the citizens in alarm, lest the town should 
be bombarded. It was necessary to curb this insolence ; 
and Moultrie was despatched, under cover of a stormy 



ATTACK ON BRITISH SHIPS. 217 

night, witli a select body of troops, and a few pieces of 
artillery, to Haddrill's Point, from "which these vessels 
might be commanded. A rude breastwork was rapidly 
thrown up, the guns mounted, and at daylight, opening 
with long shot upon the enemy, they were compelled to 
haul off to a more respectful distance."'*' 

The details of these proceedings in which Marion also 
took an active part as a captain in the Second regiment, 
will be found in his '' Life," in the preceding part of the 
volume. 

* Washington and the Generals of the Kevolution, 



218 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 



y 



CHAPTER II. 

Invasion of South Carolina by the fleet and army under Gen. Clinton 
— Defence of Sullivan's Island by Colonel Moultrie — Opinions of 
General Lee and Governor Rutledge — Presentation of colors to the 
Second Regiment — Officers who were in Fort Sullivan on the 28lh 
of June — Vote of thanks by Congress — Declaration of Independence 
read to the army — Lee's expedition to Florida — Moultrie predicts 
its failure — It fails — Lee's thanks to the troops —General Moultrie's 
brigade placed on the continental establishment — General Lee goes 
to the north — Moore succeeds him — Moultrie stationed at Had- 
drill's Point — Nash succeeds Moore. 

The well known wealth of South Carolina, and the 
spirit of opposition to the ^British government which had 
been so openly manifested in that province, had deter- 
mined the government to attempt its conquest. A for- 
midable armament was accordingly fitted out from New 
York and placed under the command of Sir Henry Clin- 
ton, who arrived with a fleet of fifty sail, with several 
thousand troops, and came to anchor ofi" the harbour of 
Charleston, in the beginning of June, 1776. The bar 
was crossed on the 10th of June, and preparations com- 
f menced for capturing the fort on Sullivan's Island. This 
fort was under the command of Colonel Moultrie, and 
his gallant defence of it saved South Carolina from Bri- 
tish conquest for the time. 



DESCRIPTION OF FORT SULLIVAIs^ 219 

" Sullivan's Island," says a late writer,* " was regarded 
as /-the key to the harbor. Ikying within point-blank shot 
of the channel, it was particularly susceptible of employ- 
ment in retarding or harassing an enemy's fleet ; and 
the difficulties of the bar, which was unfavorable to the 
passage of very large vessels of war, increased the value 
of the position as a key to the entrance. Hither, ac- 
cordingly, he proceeded early in March, 1776. The 
island, which is now occupied by a pleasing summer vil- 
lage, was then a wilderness, having in its bosom, upon 
the spot subsequently covered in a great part by the 
fortress, a deep morass, which was sheltered by massive 
live-oaks, and by a dense covert of myrtle, sprinkled 
with palmetto trees. The palmettos were soon hewn 
down, and made to serve as the outer wall of the fortress, 
which was rendered dense and massive by sand and 
earth thrown into the spaces between the logs. These 
were fastened together in alternate layers, rudely notched 
at the extremities, and secured by pegs of wood. Upon 
its density, and the soft porous character of the pal- 
metto timber, which did not fracture when wounded by 
shot, rather than the strength of the works, did the gar- 
rison rely for safety. It was at best a cover, rather 
than a shelter. The common opinion was, that a British 
frigate would knock it about the ears of the defenders in 
half an hour. To one who uttered this opinion in the 
ears of Moultrie, he answered, that he ' could still fight 
the enemy, and prevent their landing, from behind the 
ruins.' His coolness during all this time, and when all 
other persons were excited, led to suspicions of his 

* Washino-toi] and tlie Generals of the Revolution. 



220 LIFE OP MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

energy. He was somewhat phlegmatic in his moods, 
and was thought to take things quite too easily. Indeed, 
it must be admitted that his good temper was sometimes 
too indulgent. He was not sufficiently the disciplinarian, 
and did not succeed in extorting and extracting from 
those about him, what they might have done, and what 
the emergency seems to have required. But his cool- 
ness and fortitude amply compensated for this deficiency, 
and had the happiest effect in inspiring his men with 
confidence. ' General Lee thinks me quite too easy,' 
says Moultrie himself, good-naturedly enough; — 'for 
my own part, I never was uneasy.' In this respect he 
certainly was a philosopher. Charles Lee would have 
had the post abandoned without an effort. He had a 
profound faith in British frigates, to do anything ; and 
pronounced the fort on Sullivan's Island to be a mere 
slaughter-pen. To his exhortations that the place should 
be abandoned. Governor Rutledge opposed a steady re- 
fusal. He had asked Moultrie if he could defend it. 
The reply was affirmative. ' General Lee wishes you to 
evacuate the fort. You will not do so without an order 
from me ; I will sooner cut off my hand than write one.' 
He knew Moultrie. Lee was particularly anxious, find- 
ing that he could not effect this object, that the means 
of retreat should be furnished for the garrison. Moul- 
trie never gave himself any concern on this account ; and 
this led to Lee's impatience with him. ' 1 never was 
uneasy,' says he, 'at having no retreat, as I never im- 
agined that the enemy could force me to this necessity. 
I always considered myself able to defend the post.' 
Lee thought otherwise ; and, even had the post been de- 



EXTRACTS FROM MOULTRIE'S MEMOIRS. 221 

fensible, did not conceive Moultrie to be tlie man for 
such a trust. His phlegm and coolness annoyed the im- 
petuous and restless spirit of this mercurial soldier. 
Moultrie says — ' General Lee does not like my having 
command of this important post. He does not doubt 
my courage, but says I am " too easy in command." ' A 
little of that calm temper, which was so conspicuous in 
Moultrie, might have saved Lee himself from all his mor- 
tifications." 

Moultrie's own graphic description of the battle of Fort 
Sullivan, which took place on the 28th of June, will be 
found in the ninth chapter of the Life of Marion, in the 
preceding part of this volume. 

The following extracts from Moultrie's Memoirs, will 
be read with interest, as furnishing some additional par- 
ticulars respecting the presentation of the flags by Mrs. 
Elliott, and other incidents which followed the battle 
of the 28th of June. The first is a note from Go- 
vernor Rutledge to Colonel Moultrie : 

"June SOfA, 1776. 

"His excellency, the president, desires his very parti- 
cular thanks to the brave ofiicers and men of this garri- 
son, for their gallant behavior in the engagement of the 
28th of June last. General Lee says no men ever did, 
and it is impossible that any can behave better : and 
that he will do us justice in his letters to the Continental 
Congress. His excellency has sent a hogshead of rum 
to the garrison." 

July 1. Yesterday, the lady of Major Bernard Elli- 



222 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

ott presented an elegant pair of colors to the 2nd regi- 
ment, with these words : 

" The gallant behavior in defence of liberty and your 
country, entitles you to the highest honors ; accept of 
these two standards as a reward justly due to your regi- 
ment ; and I make not the least doubt, under heaven's 
protection, you will stand by them as long as they can 
wave in the air of liberty." 

The colors were presented by her own hands to the 
Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel ; she was thanked and 
promised " that they should be honorably supported, and 
never should be tarnished by the 2nd regiment." 

There were never colors more honorably supported, 
and never were colors better disposed of ; they were 
planted on the British lines at Savannah ; one by Lieut. 
Bush, who was immediately shot down ; Lieut. Hume 
going to plant his, who was also shot down ; and Lieut. 
Gray, in supporting them, received his mortal wound ; 
and the gallant Jasper, who was with them, seeing Lieut. 
Hume shot down, took up the color and planted it ; he 
also received his death wound, however he brought off 
his color with him, which was taken at the fall of 
Charleston ; they were very elegant, one of a fine blue 
silk, the other a fine red silk richly embroidered : I am 
told they are now in the tower of London. 

After this the legislature did me the honor to call the 
fort. Fort Moultrie. 

Ofiicers who were in the fort on 28th June. 

William Moultrie, Col. Isaac Motte, Lieut. Col. Fran- 
cis Marion, Maj. Andrew Dellient, Adj. 

Captains Peter Horry, Nicholas Eveleigh, James Mc- 



THANKS OF CONGRESS. 223 

Donald, Isaac Harleston, Charles Motte, Francis Huger, 
Richard Ashbj, Richard Shubrick, William Oliphant, 
John Blake. 

Lieutenants William Charnock, Thomas Lessesne, Da- 
niel Mazjck, Jacob Shubrick, Thomas Dunbar, William 
Moultrie, jr., Thomas Hall, Henrj Gray, Isaac Dubose, 
Richard B. Baker, Adrian Proveaux, Richard Mayson, 
teeter JGrray, Basil Jackson, Gad Marion. 

" Philadelphia, July 20t7i 1776. 
*'In Congress. 
" Resolved, That the thanks of the United States of 
America be given to Maj. Gen. Lee, Col. William Moul- 
trie, Col. William Thompson, and the officers and sol- 
diers under their commands ; who, on the 28th of June 
last, repulsed, with so much valor, the attack which was 
made on the State of South Carolina, by the fleet and 
army of his Britannic majesty. 

" That Mr. President transmit the foregoing resolu- 
tion to Maj, Gen. Lee, Col. Moultrie, and Col. Thomp- 
son. 

" By order of the Congress. 

"John Hancock, President." 

The latter end of July, the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence arrived in Charleston, and was read at the head 
of the troops, in the field, by Major Bernard Elliott ; 
after which an oration was delivered by the Rev. Mr. 
!Pearcy. 

July, About this time, Mr. Jonathan Bryan ar- 
rived in Charleston, from Georgia, and informed General 



224 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

Lee that if he would send a detachment of troops to 
East Florida, he could easily take the town of St. Au- 
gustine, as there were but very few men in that garri- 
son ; upon which Gen. Lee hastily marches off the Vir- 
ginia and North Carolina troops, at this inclement sea- 
son of the year, (leaving Gen. James Moore to command 
in Charleston,) without one necessary article, nor a field- 
piece, nor even a medicine chest; he was followed by 
General. Howe and myself. 

As soon as the British had retreated after the battle 
of Sullivan's Island, the state was left tranquil, and free 
from any apprehension of another attack soon, an expe- 
dition was planned against the Cherokee Indians, (who 
began to be troublesome,) and carried on by Col. Andrew 
Williamson, and a strong body from North Carolina, 
under General Rutherford, who came upon them through 
the mountains, and a body of men from Virginia, under 
Col. Christie, and another body from Georgia, under 
Col. Jacks. The detachment under Col. Williamson 
had several skirmishes with them, before the other de- 
tachments came up. The Indians being attacked on all 
sides, sued for peace, which was granted them, upon 
their giving up all the lands to the eastward of the Oco- 
nee Mountains. If the British had set their Indian 
allies upon us a few months before Sir Henry Clinton 
and Sir Peter Parker made their descent on South Caro- 
lina, they would have disconcerted us very much, by 
keeping thousands of our back country people from com- 
ing down ; because they must have staid at home to pro- 
tect their families from the savages. 

August 11th, a detachment of South Carolina troops 



LEE CALLED NORTHWARD. 225 

was sent off for Georgia, with two field pieces ; when we 
got to Savannah, in Georgia, Gen. Lee proposed to me 
to take the command of the expedition against St. Au- 
gustine, and asked me whether my brother being there 
as governor, w^ould not be an obstacle in the way. I 
told him my brother being there would be no objection 
with me ; but with respect to other matters, I did not 
see one thing in the place that we could get to aid such 
an expedition ; that if I undertook the expedition, I 
must have eight hundred men, and many things else ; and, 
at his request, I gave a list of such articles as I thought 
would be wanted. I told him I knew what it was to 
march an army through the wilderness : that I had been 
warring against Indians, that I had seen an army of 3000 
men reduced to only one day's provision, and that, in an 
Indian enemy's country. General Lee immediately sent 
to Augusta to have the articles got agreeably to the list I 
gave in ; and we were preparing for the march, when 
an express, in September, arrived from Congress, calling 
Gen. Lee immediately to the northward ; in two days 
after, he left Savannah, and ordered the Virginia and 
North Carolina troops to follow him. This put an end 
to the East Florida expedition. 

The troops that went to Georgia, suffered exceedingly 
by sickness ; at Sunberry, 14 or 15 were buried every 
day, till they were sent to the sea islands, where they 
recruited a little. 

On the 8th of September, Gen. Lee arrived in Charles- 
ton, and the governor and council prevailed upon him 
to leave the North Carolinians in this province, as a 

gi-cat pnrt of the South Carolina troops were in Georgia, 
.1.5 



226 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

and we should be left, with very few men, quite defence- 
less. He consented to leave the North Carolina troops ; 
and before his departure, he issued the following orders : 

" Orders, September 9th. 

" Gen. Lee thinks it his duty, before his departure, to 
express the high sense he entertains of the conduct and 
behavior of the colonels and officers of the several bat- 
talions of South Carolina, both as gentlemen and sol- 
diers ; and begs leave to assure them, that he thinks 
himself obliged to report their merit to the Continental 
Congress." 

Hitherto the South Carolina battalions were upon the 
establishment of the colony ; but it was found very in- 
convenient to the service, that troops doing duty toge- 
ther, should be governed by different laws ; it was re- 
commended by Congress to have the colony troops put 
upon continental establishment, which was agreed to. 

*'In General Assembly, Sept. 20th, 17T6. 

" Resolved, That this house do acquiesce in the reso- 
lution of the Continental Congress of the 18th of June, 
and the 24th of July last, relative to the putting the two 
regiments of infantry, the regiment of rangers, the regi- 
ment of artillery, and the two regiments of riflemen, in 
the service of this State, upon the continental establish- 
ment." 

By this resolve, the South Carolina' officers came into 
the continental line as youngest officers of their different 
ranks. 

Gen. Lee left the southern states, and went to the 



moore's orders. 227 

northward ; upon which the command of the southern 
troops devolved upon Gen. James Moore. 

'' Orders by Gex. Moore, Jan. 9th, 1T77. 
" The detached situation of Fort Moultrie, Haddrill's 
Point, this town, and Fort Johnson, from each other, 
making it necessary that the command of the troops be 
divided : Gen. Howe will command in town and Fort 
Johnson ; Gen. Gadsden, at Fort Moultrie and Sullivan's 
Island ; and Gen. Moultrie to command the North Caro- 
linians, at Haddrill's Point." 

Gen. Moore returned to North Carolina, and left the 
command of the troops of that State to Gen. Nash. 

An express arrived with orders for the North Carolina 
troops to march to the northward. 



/ 



228 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 



CHAPTER III. 

]\rouItrie attached to Lincoln's army — Moultrie's account of the fall 
of Savannah, and the secceedinf^ events — Moultrie at Purysburg — 
Ordered to Port Royal Island— Defeats the British there — Lincoln 
marches into Georgia — General Prevost enters South Carolina and 
marches for Ciaarleston — His march retarded by Moultrie — Moul- 
trie defends Charleston against Prevost and prevents its capture — 
Prevost returns to Georgia. 

General Moultrie was now placed under the com- 
mand of General Lincoln, who had been ordered to the 
southern department by Congress, with the intention of 
invading and conquering the province of Florida which 
still remained loyal to the British crown. But on Lin- 
coln's arrival, he learnt that Savannah had been taken 
by the British Colonel Campbell, who, with 2000 men, 
had defeated General Robert Howe, on the 29th of De- 
cember, 1778. Moultrie, in his Memoirs, thus comments 
upon this affair, and narrates the events connected with 
it: 

When Gen. Howe perceived that the British, by their 
movements, intended a descent upon Savannah, he called a 
council of war of his field officers, to advise with them, whe- 
ther he should retreat from Savannah, or stay and defend 
the town with his troops. The majority of the council were 



DEFEAT OF HOWE. 229 

of opinion tliat he should remain in Savannah, and de- 
fend it to the last. This was the most ill-advised, rash 
opinion, that possiblj could be given ; it was absurd to 
suppose that six or seven hundred men, and some of 
them very raw troops, could stand against two or three 
thousand as good troops as any the British had, and 
headed by Colonel Campbell, an active, brave, experi- 
enced officer. 

From every information which Gen. Howe received, 
he was well assured that the British troops were at least 
that number. Gen. Howe should have retreated with 
his six or seven hundred men, up the country, especially 
as he had certain information that Gen. Lincoln was 
marching with a body of men to join him, and did ac- 
tually arrive at Purysburg on the 3d day of January, 
only four days after his defeat, (which happened a few 
minutes after the action began.) It was a total rout, 
and the whole had nearly been cut off from their retreat ; 
the 2nd brigade was entirely so, those of them who made 
their escape, were obliged to file off to the right, and 
cross the Spring Hill causeway, and some were obliged 
to swim Yamacraw creek, leaving their arms behind; 
those who could not swim were either killed or taken. 
The loss of the arms to us was a very serious considera- 
tion. On this attack, the British landed about 2000 
men. 

On the 6th December, Gen. Lincoln arrives from the 
northward, and issues the following order : 



230 life of major general william moultrie. 

" General Orders, by Gen. Lincoln. 

''December 1th, 1778. 

*' The honorable, the Continental Congress, have been 
pleased to pass the following resolve 

"• In Congress, September 26th, 1778. 

" Resolved, That Major General Lincoln take the 
command in the southern department, and repair imme- 
diately to Charleston, South Carolina." 

General Lincoln, immediately after his arrival, began 
to prepare the troops to march to the southward, to the 
relief of Georgia ; knowing that the British had arrived 
there in force, and informed of the very weak state of 
Georgia. On the 24th instant, some reinforcements 
came in from North Carolina, and on the 25th, General 
Lincoln issued the following order: 

"The Colonel or commanding officer of the regiment 
of new raised levies and militia, lately arrived from 
North Carolina, will immediately call on the deputy 
quartermaster general, for such number of arms as are 
wanting in their respective regiments." 

This order shows the want of arms in the states, even 
at this time, four years after the beginning of our Revo- 
lution. South Carolina was better supplied with arms 
and ammunition, than any State in the union ; their situ- 
ation being at one end of the continent, they were more 
out of the way of the British cruisers, and nearer to the 
islands from whence they drew their supplies, and the 
Carolinians spared no pains or cost, and ran every risk 
to procure these necessaries. On the 26th instant, the 
following orders were issued : 



LINCOLN'S GENERAL ORDERS. 231 

" General Orders. 
" The first and second regiments will hold themselves 
in readiness to march at 6 o'clock to-morrow morn- 

On the 27th of December, we marched off the North 
and South Carolina troops, amounting to about 1200, 
and arrived at Purysburg on 3d January, 1779. 

*' General Orders by Gen. Lincoln at Headquak- / 
TERS, at Purysburg. 

" January/ Sd, 1779. 
" The troops will, immediately after dinner, remove to 
the right, near the river, at the lower end of the town, 
where they will take possession of the camp marked out 
by the deputy quartermaster general." 

This evening. Gen. Howe joined us with his suite, and 
gave us a particular account of his unfortunate affair in 
Savannah ; he left the remains of his troops on the other ^ 
side of the river, at the Two Sisters, under the command 
of Col. Isaac Huger ; the next day they were ordered to 
join us at this place. 

Had Gen. Howe retired from Savannah and gone up 
the country, we should soon have joined him, and made 
a body of 2000 men ; besides, such reinforcements were /^ 
marching to us from Augusta, Ninety-Six, and many 
other parts of Georgia and Carolina, that in a short time 
we should have had an army of four or five thousand men ; 
with them we could have marched down to Savannah be- 
fore the British could have had time to fortify, and be- 
fore they were reinforced by the troops under Gen. Pre- 
vost from Florida, and obliged them to leave the town 



232 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

and take to their shipping again. The loss of Savannah 
was not the only misfortune we met with in Gen. Howe's 
defeat, we lost the aid of almost all the citizens of that 
State, as the British immediately encamped the troops 
along the Savannah river up to Augusta, and it also 
damped the ardor of the well affected in our State for a 
time, and I believe continued the war one year longer. 
Sometimes the most trifling circumstance of error in war, 
brings about great events ; and the loss of Savannah was 
the occasion of the fall of Charleston. On Gen. Lincoln's 
taking the command in the southern department. Gen. 
Howe was ordered to join the northern army." 

In the latter part of January, 1779, General Moultrie 
was with the main army of General Lincoln, at Purys- 
burg. At this time Lincoln was severely tried by the 
misconduct of the militia who composed a part of his 
army. In a letter to Col. Charles C. Pinckney, presi- 
dent of the Senate of South Carolina, dated Jan. 26th, 
Moultrie gives a particular account of an instance of in- 
subordination in a soldier, whom Lincoln attempted to have 
tried by a court martial, when it was ascertained that by 
the laws of South Carolina, the militia were not subject 
to the continental martial law. Commenting on his own 
letter, Moultrie says : 

This letter shows what diflSculties Gen. Lincoln had to 
encounter, with having such an army, mostly composed 
of militia, who were governed by such a public law, that 
for the greatest military crime they could be guilty of, 
they were only punishable by a small pecuniary fine ; 
with such an army, what anxiety, perplexity, and diffi- 
culties must a general be put to ; how uneasy must he 



THE MILITIA. 233 

feel when his military reputation was at stake, with such 
odds against him, at a time when his camp was three miles 
from an enemy, superior in force to him, and veteran troops. 
It was fortunate that a river and a large swamp was be- 
tween us : a militia army should be brought into action 
immediately as they take the field: they do not want 
for spirit ; but they soon tire of a camp life — they then 
get home-sick, and off they go, without giving the least 
notice, or obtaining leave, because they know that the 
fine for their disobedience is so trifling that they care 
not about it. It was very fortunate for us, and impolitic 
in Lord Cornwallis, to withdraw the paroles from the 
militia, and to order them to take arms against their 
country that being the case, they soon determined on 
which side to fight, they then joined their countrymen ; 
whereas, had they been suffered to remain upon parole, 
I believe many of them would have been very well 
pleased to have staid at home quietly ; but when once 
they had taken arms again in favor of their country, 
they were then obliged to keep the field as a place of se- 
curity from being made prisoners, and perhaps hanged. 
I believe one half of the militia of the State were upon 
parole at that time. 

By order of General Lincoln, Moultrie was sent with 
a detachment to dislodge the enemy from Beaufort on 
Port Royal Island. At Port Royal Ferry he was joined 
by General Ash, with 1157 men, of which 234 were con- 
tinentals. On his preparing to cross the Savannah, the 
enemy spiked their cannon and retreated. Moultrie 
crossed and took possession of Beaufort ; when he was 
viewing the fort which they had deserted, his spies 



234 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

brought intelligence that the British under Major Gard- 
ner were returning to attack him. He put his troops 
in order, marched out, and encountering them, inflicted a 
severe defeat upon them and drove them from the Island. 
In his report (Feb. 4th, 1779) to General Lincoln, Moul- 
trie says : " This action was reversed from the usual way of 
fighting between the British and Americans ; they taking 
to the bushes, and we remaining upon the open ground. 
After some little time, finding our men too much exposed 
to the enemy's fire, I ordered them to take trees ; about 
three quarters of an hour after the action began, I heard 
a general cry through the line, of ' no more cartridges ;' 
and was also informed by Captains Heyward and But- 
ledge, that the ammunition for the field pieces was al- 
most expended, after firing about forty rounds from each 
piece ; upon this I ordered the field pieces to be drawn 
off very slowly : and their right and left wings to keep 
pace "with the artillery to cover their flanks, which was 
done in tolerable order for undisciplined troops. The 
enemy had beat their retreat before we began to move, 
but we had little or no ammunition, and could not of 
consequence pursue. They retreated so hastily as to 
leave an ofiicer, one sergeant, and three privates, 
"wounded, in a house near the action, and their dead ly- 
ing on the field." 

Savannah having, as we have seen, been captured by 
the British in 1778, was still in their possession, and 
from this point they now determined to penetrate Caro- 
lina in force. 

*' Lincoln," says a late writer,* " at the same time, passed 
* Washington and the Generals of the Eevolution. 



ADVANCE OF PREVOST. 235 

into Georgia, with the view of diverting the enemy from 
his objects ; and, if possible, of confining his operations 
to the sea-coast of Georgia only. One of his detached 
bodies, however, under General Ash, suffered a surprise, 
which greatly enfeebled his strength, and encouraged his 
opponent. 

" General Prevost, the active commander of the British, 
aware of Lincoln's absence with the great body of the 
American force, in the interior, suddenly resolved upon 
throwing himself between him and the seaboard, and 
pressing forward to Charleston. His object was a coup 
de main. But Moultrie lay in his path with a thousand 
militia. He succeeded in retarding the advance which 
he could not resist, and thus gained time for the citizens 
to put themselves in trim for the reception of the foe. 
His despatches apprized Lincoln of the British enter- 
prise, and summoned to his assistance Governor Rut- 
ledge, at the head of the country militia. Five large 
bodies of men were accordingly in motion at the same 
moment, all striving for the same point. 

" The British, amounting to three thousand men^ pressed 
rapidly upon the heels of Moultrie. One or two skir- 
mishes, which took place between small parties, soon satis- 
fied the latter that it would not be prudent, with his 
inferior force, wholly of militia, to attempt a stand short 
of Charleston. He had prepared to try the strength of 
the enemy at Tulifinall, but was discouraged by the re- 
sult of a skirmish between his own and the British light 
troops. He has been censured for not having done so, 
and it has been suggested, that in the frequent swamps 
and dense forests through which his progress lay, there 



236 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

were adequate covers and fastnesses, in which to baffle 
and arrest an enemy. But the routes were various. 
His opposition might have been turned, and the prize 
was quite too important — the safety of Charleston — to 
peril by any rash confidence in the coolness and temper 
of an inexperienced militia. He reached Charleston but 
a little while^ before Prevost appeared in sight. He 
found the citizens in great consternation, and proceeded 
to reassure them, and put the town in a posture of de- 
fence. 

" On the 11th of May, the advance of the British army 
crossed Ashley river. Their cavalry was encountered 
in a spirited skirmish by the legion of Count Pulaski. 
Unprepared for a siege, the hope of Prevost was in the 
vigor of a prompt assault. To meet this, the garrison 
^tood to their arms all night. The next day the place 
was formally summoned. In the panic of the citizens, 
the proposition of surrender was really entertained. 

" Fortunately, the negotiation was left to Moultrie. 
Prior to this, all things were in confusion. A question 
as to the proper authority arose in the minds of many. 
Orders were brought to the military, equally from the 
governor, the privy council, and the brigadier. 

" Moultrie gave a proof of his decision at this moment. 
' Obey no orders from the privy council,' was his stern 
command, as he rode along the lines. ' It will never 
do,' were his words to the governor and council, 'we shall 
be ruined and undone, if we have so many commanders. 
It is absolutely necessary to choose one commander, 
and leave all military affairs to him.' He was unani- 
mously appointed to the station, and soon closed the ne- 



ATTEMPT ON STONO FERRY. 237 

gotiations "with the enemy, by a stern and laconic an- 
swer, which silenced all the arguments of the timid. 
'We will fight it out!' 

" The resolution was, in fact, victory ! Prevost had no 
time for fighting. Lincoln was rapidly approaching 
with four thousand men ; and, fearful of a foe so power- 
ful in his rear, and with no longer a hope of efi"ecting 
anything by a coup de main, the British general sud- 
denly recrossed the Ashley in the night. He retired to 
James's Island, where he was watched closely by the 
Americans under Lincoln. An attempt made upon his 
intrenchments at Stono Ferry, in which Moultrie at- 
tempted to co-operate, but failed to reach the field in 
due season, was creditable to the spirit of the American 
troops, but did not realize the wished-for consequences. 
It sufficed, however, with the vigilant watch maintained 
upon the British, to discourage their enterprise ; and 
they gradually drew off, by way of the Sea Island, to 
their point d'appui, in Georgia. And thus ended the 
second expedition against the metropolis of Carolina. 

" In the whole anxious period in which the presence of 
the enemy was either felt or feared, Moultrie exhibited 
the cool, steadfast courage by which he was distin- 
guished, with all the unremitted vigilance and activity 
which characterized the zeal of one having deeply at 
heart the great interests which are confided to his 
hands." 



238 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 



CHAPTER IV. 

General Moultrie appointed commander in chief of the Southern army, 
to take the place of Lincoln, who has permission to retire on the 
plea of ill health — Lincoln however remains with the army — His 
dissatisfaction at the criticisms on his campaign in Georgia — The 
correspondence between Jay and Moultrie respecting his appoint- 
ment — General Moultrie attends the legislature as Senator — His 
notice of the siege of Savannah. 

After the retreat of General Prevost from Charles- 
ton, and before his final retirement to Georgia, he con- 
tinued for some time among the Islands, watched by 
Lincoln and Moultrie, and once attacked at Stono, as re- 
lated in the last chapter. It was during this period that 
General Lincoln, pleading ill health, requested leave to 
go to the north. On the 11th of May 1779, Congress 
passed a resolution granting the desired permission, and 
appointing General Moultrie commander in chief of the 
Southern army during Lincoln's absence. 

By the correspondence in Moultrie's Memoirs, it would 
seem that Lincoln's real reason for wishing to retire from 
his command, was a series of ill natured comments on 
his campaign in Georgia. Moultrie makes the following 
remarks on this subject : 

"About this time, General Lincoln was very much dis- 
pleased, because some ill natured persons had been cast- 



Moultrie's modesty. 239 

ing reflections on him, for his having marched up to 
Augusta with the main body of his army, and leaving 
the low country exposed to the enemy, and putting 
Charleston in such imminent danger : these reflections 
were thrown out by persons who were not acquainted 
with General Lincoln's motives for taking that step, in 
which he was perfectly justifiable ; as the council of 
general officers, held at Black-swamp on the 19th of 
April, advised the measures as being rational and proper. 
General Lincoln was a brave, active, and very vigilant 
officer ; and always so very cautious, that he would take 
no step of any consequence, without first calling a coun- 
cil of officers, to advise with them on the measures." 

It does not appear that Lincoln actually availed him- 
self of the permission of Congress to leave his command ; 
and although Moultrie wrote to John Jay, the President 
of Congress, accepting his appointment, it was only con- 
ditionally, in case of Lincoln's actual retirement. We 
insert the correspondence, because it is highly creditable 
to General Moultrie's modesty as well as his merit. 

Letter from the President of Congress, 
WITH Resolves. 

"Philadelphia, May 15th, 1779. 

"Major General Lincoln's ill state of health has induced 
Congress to permit him to retire from a climate and 
service unfriendly to its recovery. 

" I have now the honor of transmitting to you, a copy 
of an act of the 13th instant, appointing you commander 
in his absence, during the continuance of the Southern 



240 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

army to the southward of North Carolina ; and until the 
further order of Congress. 

'' Accept my best wishes, that this appointment may 
be productive of fresh laurels, and that you may again 
be the instrument of increasing the honors and security 
of your country. 

'' I have the honor to be, &c. 

" John Jay, President. 
"Brig. Gen. Moultrie." 

"In Congress, May 13^A, 1779. 
" Resolved that Brigadier General Moultrie, be com- 
mander, in the absence of Major General Lincoln, of 
the Southern army, during its continuance to the south- 
ward of North Carolina ; with the allowance of a Major 
General, on a separate command, until the further order 
of Congress. 

"Extract from the Minutes. 

" Charles Thomson, Sec'ry." 

Answer to the President of Congress. 

" Charleston, June 7th, 1779. 
"Sir, — I have been honored with yours of 15th May, 
inclosing the copy of a resolution of Congress ; by which 
I am, in the absence of General Lincoln, appointed 
commander in chief of the Southern army, during its 
continuance to the southward of North Carolina : the 
present posture of affairs will, I trust, prevent General 
Lincoln from availing himself of the permission granted 
him by Congress ; but should the state of his health re- 
quire, at any future time, his return to the iiorihward, 



LINCOLN REMAINS AT HIS POST. 241 

and deprive us of an officer to whom the country is so 
much indebted, be assured, sir, that my ambition will be 
to supply so great a loss, to the best of my abilities ; and 
that my utmost endeavors will be exerted for the welfare 
of this state, and in defence of our common cause : per- 
mit me, in the mean time, to make, through you, my most 
sincere acknowledgments to Congress, for this proof of 
the confidence they are pleased to honor me with. 
" I have the honor to be, kc. 

"Wm. Moultrie. 
" His Excellency John Jay, Esq., 

" President of Congress.** 

General Lincoln's reason for remaining at his post of 
duty, was probably the menacing state of affairs in the 
south. There was every reason to apprehend that 
Prevost would renew his attack on Charleston. He 
was still in the neighborhood of that place when the 
above correspondence took place, and might be waiting 
for reinforcements to renew his attack. At such a criti- 
cal moment, Lincoln was not the man to leave his post. 
He remained with the army, and on the 20th of June 
made his attack on Prevost at Stono Ferry. After that 
battle, as we have already seen, Prevost retired to Georgia 
and took post at Savannah, leaving Colonel Maitland 
at Beaufort on Port Royal Island. He was closely 
watched by Moultrie who was posted at Sheldon (July 
20th). 

As the legislature was now in session in Charleston, 
Moultrie had permission to attend to his duty as Senator. 
He says : 
16 



242 LIFE or MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

" General Lincoln wished all the officers of the army 
that were members of the general assembly, to attend at 
the meeting, that they might be upon the spot, to inform 
the Representatives with the difficulty there was in this 
State to keep an army together ; that it was a folly to 
depend upon the militia ; that it was impossible to keep 
them in the field : therefore some other method must be 
fallen upon to raise an army, or else the country must 
be given up." 

General Moultrie was not present at the siege of Sa- 
vannah which occurred in the ensuing autumn. He was 
left, by General Lincoln, in command of the army at 
Charleston. As we have noticed the siege of Savannah 
particularly in the former part of this volume, we shall 
here only insert the following characteristic notice of 
the affair in Moultrie's journal : 

July 20th. At this time, nothing material was done; 
the legislature was in session ; and our little army re- 
mained at Sheldon, waiting upon the British, who had 
taken post at Beaufort, under the command of Colonel 
Maitland. About the 4th of September, an officer came 
to town, from Count D'Estaing's fleet, then off our bar, 
consisting of twenty sail of the line, two 50 gun ships, 
and eleven frigates, to acquaint General Lincoln that 
the Count D'Estaing was ready to co-operate with him 
in the reduction of Savannah, and at the same time, to 
urge the necessity of dispatch; as he could not remain 
long upon our coast, at this season of the year. This 
information put us all in high spirits; the legislature 
adjourned : the governor and council, and the military 
joined heartily in expediting every thing that was 



ATTACK ON SAVANNAH. 243 

necessary : boats were sent to Count D'Estaing's fleet, 
to assist in taking the cannon and stores on shore : every 
one cheerful, as if we were sure of success ; and no one 
doubted but that we had nothing more to do, than to 
march up to Savannah, and demand a surrender. The 
militia were draughted ; and a great number of volun- 
teers joined readily, to be present at the surrender, and 
in hopes to have the pleasure of seeing the British march 
out, and deliver up their arms ; but, alas ! it turned out 
a bloody afiair ; and we were repulsed from the lines, 
with the loss of eight or nine hundred men killed and 
wounded : and I think I may say, that the militia volunteers 
were much disappointed ; as I suppose they did not go with 
the expectation of storming lines. I was pleased, when 
I was informed that in general they behaved well ; and 
they could truly say, they had been in very severe fire. 



2-1-1 LIFE or MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 



CHAPTER Y. 

Moultrie stationed at Bacon's Bridge — His force there — Leaves his 
command and goes to Charleston — Siege of Charleston — Surren- 
der — Coolness of Moultrie — His account of the surrender and the 
explosion of the magazine — Moultrie sent to Haddrill's Point. 

In .anticipation of a renewed attack upon Charleston, 
General Lincoln ordered General Moultrie (Feb. 19, 
1780) to proceed to Bacon's Bridge, and form a camp 
of the militia of that neighborhood, and of those who had 
been ordered to the city. Marion's brigade was also 
placed under his command, for the purpose of hanging on 
the enemy's flanks and opposing him at every advanta- 
geous pass. The following directions were given in Ge- 
. neral Lincoln's orders : 

" You will cause to be removed all the horses, beeves, 
sheep, swine, carriages, boats, and indeed everything 
which may comfort the enemy, or facilitate their march, 
saving such as may be necessary for the support of fami- 
lies left. You will throw up a work on the rising ground, 
on this side of Bacon's Bridge, to command it. You 
will, on approach of the enemy, previous to your leaving 
your post, effectually destroy the bridge. You will 
please to examine Stan's Bridge, and the swamp above 
it, and report your opinion of the practicability of pass- 



Moultrie's illness. 245 

ing it with heavy cannon. You will keep a small guard 
at Dorchester Bridge, and one on your right at Stan's 
Bridge. You will advise me daily of your situation and 
strength, and of the state of the enemy." 

This order is dated at Charleston. A body of the 
enemy was stationed at Sfono, at this time, and Sir 
Henry Clinton's grand expedition had landed troops on 
St. John's Island. On the 23d of February, the force 
under General Moultrie's command, at Bacon's Brido-e, 
was 379 cavalry of all ranks, and 227 infantry under 
Colonel Marion. '^My being so strong in cavalry," 
says Moultrie, ''kept the enemy pretty close to their 
lines." 

On the 9th of March, Moultrie left his command at 
Bacon's Bridge to General Huger, and came to Charles- 
ton, where he was confined to the house for several days, 
owing to weakness from a recent illness. He was a 
great sufferer from the gout, and it appears from his cor- 
respondence that he was afflicted with this disorder at the 
time of the defence of Fort Moultrie. 

General Moultrie was now to enter upon the tour of 
duty, which, unfortunately for his country, was to close 
his active military service. The enemy were already 
approaching Charleston in great force. On the 11th of 
February, 1780, the British force under Sir Henry Clin- 
ton, ''amounting to more than ten thousand men, were 
within thirty miles of Charleston.* Their fleet, availino; 
themselves of favorable winds and tides, hurried past 
Fort Moultrie without repeating the error of Sir Peter 
Parker, in stopping to engage it. Their ships suffered 
* WashiDgton and the Generals of the Kevolution. 



246 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

considerably from its fire, and one was destroyed ; but 
the mischief done was not such as to embarrass or retard 
their progress. The British army, occupying a neck of 
land lying above the city, and between the rivers Ashley 
]and Cooper, opened their batteries on the 12th of April. 
[To oppose their formidable armament, the Charlestonians 
could bring into the field but five thousand men. The 
approach of summer, with the appearance of small-pox 
in the capital, efi"ectually discouraged the militia of the 
interior from hastening to the defence. The garrison 
was accordingly composed wholly of citizen militia, in- 
cluding a force of less than a thousand men from Virgi- 
nia and North Carolina. Lincoln was still first in com- 
mand ; Moultrie second, but enjoying, perhaps, something 
more than a secondary influence. Sir Henry Clinton 
was a slow and cautious commander. The fortifications 
of Charleston were field-works only. A force so power- 
ful as that of the British should have overrun them in a 
single night. Yet the siege continued for six weeks. 
The city was finally reduced by famine ; but not until 
the works were completely overawed by the besiegers, 
and their artillery rendered almost useless. General 
Moultrie was conspicuously active during the siege. 
Philip Neyle, one of his aids, was slain ; and he lost a 
brother, Thomas Moultrie, the only victim in one of the 
most successful sorties which were made by the garrison. 
He himself had a narrow escape on one occasion, having 
just left his bed, when it was traversed and torn asun- 
der by a cannon shot. This was not his only escape. 
His coolness and phlegm did not desert him, as he 
walked thje ramparts, or passed from them to the city, 



Moultrie's coolness. 247 

not heeding the covered way, though the route Tvhich he 
took was one which was completely commanded by the 
bullets of the Hessian yagers. It was thought miracu- 
lous that he should have escaped their aim.* 

The following were the terms of the surrender of 
Charleston : 

The town, and all public stores were surrendered. 

* The following note in Moultrie's Memoirs relates the incident 
above referred to : 

'• Mr. Lord and Mr. Basquin, two volunteers, were sleeping upon 
a mattress together, when Mr. Lord was killed by a shell falling upon 
him, and Mr. Basquin at the same time, had the hair of his head 
burnt, and did not wake until he was called upon. The fatigue la 
Ihat advance redoubt was so great for want of sleep, that many faces 
were so swelled they could scarcely see out of their eyes. I was 
obliged to relieve Major Mitchell, the commanding officer : they were 
constantly upon the look-out for the shells that were continually fall- 
ing among them, it was by far the most dangerous post on the lines. 
On my visit to this battery, not having been there for a day or two, I 
took the usual way of going in, which was a bridge that crossed our 
ditch, quite exposed to the enemy ; in the meantime, they had ad- 
vanced their works within seventy or eighty yards of the bridge, 
which I did not know of. As soon as I had stepped upon the bridge, 
an uncommon number of bullets whistled about me; on looking to 
my right, I could just see the heads of about twelve or fifteen men 
firing upon me from behind a breastwork ; I moved on and got in. 
When Major Mitchell saw me, he asked me which way I came in ; I 
told him over the bridge, he was astonished, and said, ' Sir, it is a 
thousand to one that you were not killed,' and told me, ' that we had 
a covered way to go out and in,' which he conducted me through on 
my return. I stayed in this battery about a quarter of an hour, to 
give the necessary orders, in which time we were constantly skipping 
about to get out of the way of the shells thrown from their howitzers, 
they were not more than one hundred yards from our works, aud 
throwing their shells in bushels on our front and left flanks." 



248 LIFE 0¥ MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

The garrison, as well the citizens who had borne arms 
as the continental troops, militia, and sailors, were to be 
prisoners of war. The garrison were to march out of 
town, and to deposite their arms in front of their works ; 
but their drums were not to beat a British march, nor 
their colours to be reversed. The militia were to retire 
to their homes on parole, and their persons and pro- 
perty, as well as the persons and property of the inhabi- 
tants of the town, to be secure while they adhered to 
their paroles. 

These terms being agreed on, the garrison laid down 
their arms, and General Leslie was appointed to take 
possession of the town. 

The defence of Charleston was obstinate, but not 
bloody. The besiegers conducted their approaches with 
great caution ; and the besieged, too weak to hazard re- 
peated sorties, kept within their lines. The loss on both 
sides was nearly equal. That of the British was seventy- 
six killed and one hundred and eighty-nine wounded ; 
and that of the Americans, excluding the inhabitants of 
the town not bearing arms, was ninety-two killed, and 
one hundred and forty- eight wounded. 

Erom the official returns made to Sir Henry Clinton 
hj his deputy adjutant general, the number of prisoners, 
exclusive of sailors, amounted to five thousand six hun- 
dred and eighteen men. This report, however, presents 
a very incorrect view of the real strength of the garrison. 
It includes every male adult inhabitant of the town. The 
precise number of privates in the continental regiments, 
according to the report made to Congress by General 



ATTACK ON SAVANNAH. 249 

Lincoln, was one thousand nine hundred and seventy- 
seven ; of whom five hundred were in the hospital. 

The following is Moultrie's own account of the sur- 
render, and of the thrilling incidents which took place 
on that occasion : 

About eleven o'clock, A. M. on the twelfth of McHj, 
we marched out between 1500 and 1600 continental 
troops, ( leaving five or six hundred sick and wounded in 
the hospitals,) without the horn-work, on the left, and 
piled our arms ; the officers marched the men back to the 
barracks, where a, British gujird was placed over them ; 
the British then asked where our second division was ? 
they were told these were all the continentals we had, 
except the sick and wounded ; they were astonished, and 
said we had made a gallant defence. 

Captain Rochfort had marched in with a detachment 
of the artillery to receive the returns of our artillery 
stores : while we were in the horn-work together in con- 
versation, he said, " Sir, you have made a gallant defence, 
but you had a great many rascals among you," (and 
mentioned names,) "who came out every night and gave 
us information of what was passing in your garrison." 

The militia marched out the same day and delivered 
up their arms at the same place ; the continental officers 
went into town to their quarters, where they remained a 
few days to collect their baggage, and signed their pa- 
roles, then were sent over to Haddrill's point. 

The militia remained in Charleston. The next day 
the militia were ordered to parade near Lynch's pas- 
ture,* and to bring all their arms with them, guns, swords, 
* Where the spring pump now stands. 



250 LIFE OF MAJOR GEXEUAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

pistols, &c. ; and those that did not strictly comply, were 
threatened with having the grenadiers turned in among 
them ; this threat brought out the aged, the timid, the 
disaffected, and the infirm, many of them who had never 
appeared during the whole siege, which swelled the 
number of militia prisoners to, at least, three times the 
number of men we ever had upon duty : I saw the column 
march out, and was surprised to see it so large ; but 
many of them we had excused, from age and infirmities ; 
however, they would do to enrol on a conqueror's list. 

When the British received their arms, they put them 
in wagons, and carried them to a store-house, where we 
had deposited our fixed ammunition (about 4,000 pounds) ; 
and although they were informed by some of our officers 
that the arms were loaded, and several of them went off 
before the explosion took place, yet in taking them out 
of the wagons they threw them so carelessly into the 
store, that some at last set fire to the powder, which blew 
up the whole guard of fifty men, and many others that 
were standing by ; their carcasses, legs, and arms were 
seen in the air, and scattered over several parts of the 
town. 

One man was dashed with violence against the steeple 
of the new Independent church, which was at a great 
distance from the explosion, and left the marks of his 
body there for several days. The houses in the town re- 
ceived a great shock, and the window sashes rattled as if 
they would tumble out of the frames. 

Most of our militia were still together ; after delivering 
up their arms, they went in a body to assist in extinguish- 
ing the fire, that had communicated itself to the neigh- 



ALARM OF BRITISH AND AMERICANS. 251 

boring houses ; and while they were working they were 
under the dreadful apprehension lest the magazine should 
take fire, as the work-house and others that were next to 
it were in a blaze ; at last some timid person called out, 
that "the magazine was on fire," this gave the alarm ; 
every one took fright, both British and Americans, and 
instantly broke off from work, and run away as fast as 
possible through the streets, throwing down and tumbling 
over each other, and others coming, after tumbling over 
them, in endeavoring to get as far from the expected ex- 
plosion, as possible. I have heard some of them say, 
that although they were so confoundedly frightened at 
the time, they could not keep from laughing, to see the 
confusion and tumbling over each other : the alarm was 
soon brought into the town. 

I was then in a house, joining St. Michael's church, 
with some company; I advised the going out of the 
house, and walking to South-bay, because I was appre- 
hensive, from the great shock which was felt in the 
houses, from the explosion of 4,000 pounds of powder, 
that, should the magazine blow up, which had 10,000 
pounds of powder in it, many of the houses in town would 
be thrown down : on my way thither, I met a British 
officer, who asked me how much powder was in the mag- 
azine ; I told him 10,000 pounds : " Sir," said he, " if it 
takes fire, it will blow your town to hell !" I replied, 
" I expected it would give a hell of a blast !" 

The British were very much alarmed at the explosion ; 
all the troops were turned out under arms, and formed : 
they could not tell what was the matter : some of the 
British and Hessian officers supposed it was designed by 



252 LIFE OF MAJOR GEx^ERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

US : I was abused, and taken up bj a Hessian officer, 
(whose guard was at Broughton's-battery,) he was very 
angry, and said to me, " You, General Moultrie, you 
rebels have done this on purpose, as they did at New 
York ;" and ordered his guard to take me a prisoner, into 
a house near, and placed a sentry at the door, where a 
number of us were confined ; but I soon got a note over 
a back way, to General Leslie, acquainting him of my 
situation, upon which he immediately sent one of his aides 
to me, with an apology, that my confinement was con- 
trary to orders, and ordered the sentry from the door. 
After a little time, the alarm subsided ; they went back, 
and stopped the progress of the fire : and if they had 
considered for a moment, they would have found that it 
was almost impossible for the magazine to take fire from 
the adjacent houses, because it was inclosed with a high 
brick wall, and the magazine itself was built of brick, 
and bomb proof. 

After the surrender, the officers were sent to Haddrill's 
point, and Moultrie being the senior was placed at their 
head by General Lincoln, who directed him to arrange the 
barracks and see that justice was done to all the officers 
in respect to the rooms. 
1/ "When we got to Haddrill's-point," says Moultrie, 

" it was very difficult to get quarters in barracks, for the 
number of officers that were sent over ; they went to 
the neighboring houses, within the limits of their paroles ;* 
and many of them built huts about in the woods, and in 
a very little time, were comfortably settled with little 
gardens about them : the number of officers (prisoners) 
* I was, at this time, allowed to come to town when I pleased. 



LINCOLN GOES TO PHILADELPHIA. 253 

at Haddrill's-point, and the adjacent houses, were two 
hundred and seventj-four ; Colonel Pinckney and myself 
were in excellent quarters, at Mr. Pinckney's place, 
called Snee-farm." 

General Lincoln was furnished with a vessel, to carry 
him and his suite to Philadelphia. 



254 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Moultrie a prisoner at Charleston — Attempt of Colonel Balfour and 
Lord Montague to gain him over to the British side — Balfour's let- 
ter to Moultrie's son — Lord Montague's letter to Moultrie, and his 
noble answer — Moultrie's important services while a prisoner in 
Charleston — Exchange of prisoners — Moultrie goes to Philadelphia 
on parole — Is exchanged — Returns to his plantation in South Ca- 
rolina — Is present at the evacuation of Charleston by the British — 
His description of the scene — Moultrie elected Governor of South 
Carolina — Close of his life. 

Gen. Moultrie remained a captive "with the British, at 
Charleston, till May, 1781. His ability as a commander 
was well known to them, and they were extremely anx- 
ious to engage his services in the royal cause. Colonel 
Balfour first applied to his son in the following letter : 

" Mr. Moultrie : Your father's character and your 
own have been represented to me in such a light that I wish 
to serve you both. What I have to say, I will sum up 
in few words. I wish you to propose to your father to 
relinquish the cause he is now engaged in, which he may 
do without the least dishonor to himself. He has only 
to enclose his commission to the first general (General 
Greene, for instance) — the command will devolve on the 
next officer. This is often done in our service. Any 
officer may resign his commission in the field, if he 
chooses. If your father will do this, he may rely on 



MONTAGUE TO MOULTRIE. 255 

me. He shall have his estate restored, and all damages 
paid. I believe you are the only heir of your father. 
For you, sir, if he continues firm, I shall never ask you 
to- bear arms against him. These favors you may de- 
pend I shall be able to obtain from my Lord Cornwallis. 
You may rely upon my honor — this matter shall never 
be divulged by me." 

Young Moultrie declined to make this proposal to his 
father, saying that he was sure his father would not lis- 
ten to It. But the attempt was renewed by Lord 
Charles Montague, formerly governor of South Caro- 
lina, and a personal friend of General Moultrie. He 
wrote to the general as follows : 

''March nth, 1781. 

" Sir : — " A sincere wish to promote what may be to 
your advantage, induces me now to write ; and the freedom 
with which we have often conversed, makes me hope you will 
not take amiss what I say. My own principles, respecting 
the commencement of this unfortunate war, are well known 
to you, and, of course, you can conceive what I mention is 
out of friendship : you have now fought bravely in the cause 
of your country for many years, and, in my opinion, ful- 
filled the duty every individual owes to it. You have had 
your share of hardships and difiiculties, and if the contest is 
still to be continued, younger hands should now take the toil 
from you. You have now a fair opening of quitting that 
service, with honor and reputation to yourself, by going 
to Jamaica with me. The world will readily attribute 
it to the known friendship that has subsisted between us : 
and by quitting this country for a short time, you would 
avoid any disagreeable conversations, and might return 



256 LIFE OF MA.JOE GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTEIE. 

at leisure, to take possession of your estates for your- 
self and family. 

"The regiment I am going to command, the only 
proof I can give you of my sincerity is, that I will quit 
that command to you with pleasure, and serve under you. 
I earnestly wish I could be the instrument to effect what 
I propose, as I think it would be a great means towards 
promoting that reconciliation we all wish for. A thou- 
sand circumstances concur to make this a proper period 
for you to embrace : our old acquaintance : my having 
been formerly governor in this province : the interest I 
have with the present commanders. 

" I give you my honor, what I write is entirely un- 
known to the commandant, or to any one else ; so shall 
your answer be, if you favor me with one. Think well 

of me. 

" Yours sincerely, 

" Charles Montague. 

" Gen. Moultrie." 

The following is Moultrie's noble answer : 

''Haddrill's Point, March 12th, 1781. 

" My Lord : — " I received yours this morning, by Fisher ; 
I thank you for your wish to promote my advantage, but am 
much surprised at your proposition ; I flattered myself I 
stood in a more favorable light with you : I shall write 
with the same freedom with which we used to converse, 
and doubt not you will receive it with the same candor. 
I have often heard you express your sentiments respect- 
ing this unfortunate war, when you thought the Ameri- 
cans injured ; but am now astonished to find you taking 



MOULTRIE TO MONTAGUE. 257 

an active part against them ; though not fighting particu- 
larly on the continent, yet seducing their soldiers away, 
to enlist in the British service, is nearly similar. 

"My lord, you are pleased to compliment me with 
having fought bravely in my country's cause for many 
years, and, in your opinion, fulfilled the duty every indi- 
vidual owes to it ; but I differ very widely with you in 
thinking that I have discharged my duty to my country, 
while it is still deluged with blood, and overrun with 
British troops, who exercise the most savage cruelties. 
When I entered into this contest, I did it with the most 
mature deliberation, and with a determined resolution to 
risk my life and fortune in the cause. The hardships I 
have gone through I look back upon with the greatest 
pleasure and honor to myself: I shall continue to go on 
as I have begun, that my example may encourage the 
youths of America to stand forth in defence of their 
rights and liberties. You call upon me now, and tell 
me I have a fair opening of quitting that service with 
honor and reputation to myself by going with you to 
Jamaica. Good God ! is it possible that such an idea 
could arise in the breast of a man of honor ? I am sorry 
you should imagine I have so little regard for my own 
reputation as to listen to such dishonorable proposals ; 
would you wish to have that man whom you have hon- 
ored with your friendship play the traitor ? Surely not. 
You say, by quitting this country for a short time, I 
might avoid disagreeable conversations, and might return 
at my own leisure, and take possession of my estates for 
myself and family ; but you have forgot to tell me how I 
am to get rid of the feelings of an injured honest heart, 
17 



258 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

and where to hide from myself; could I be guilty of so 
much baseness I should hate myself and shun mankind. 
This would be a fatal exchange from my present situa- 
tion, with an easy and approved conscience of having 
done my duty, and conducted myself as a man of 
honor. 

" My lord, I am sorry to observe, that I feel your 
friendship much abated, or you would not endeavor to 
prevail upon me to act so base a part. You earnestly 
wish you could bring it about, as you think it will be the 
means of bringing about that reconciliation we all wish 
for. I wish for a reconciliation as much as any man, 
but only upon honorable terms. The repossessing my 
estates, the offer of the command of your regiment, and 
the honor you propose of serving under me, are paltry 
considerations to the loss of my reputation : no, not the 
fee simple of that valuable island of Jamaica should in- 
duce me to part with my integrity. 

" My lord, as you have made one proposal, give me 
leave to make another, which will be more honorable to 
us both ; as you have an interest with your commanders, 
I would have you propose the withdrawing the British 
troops from the continent of America, allow the inde- 
pendence, and propose a peace : this being done, I will 
use my interest with my commanders to accept the 
terms, and allow Great Britain a free trade with Ame- 
rica. 

"My lord, I could make one proposal,* but my situa- 
tion as a prisoner circumscribes me within certain bounds ; 

*Which was to advise liim to come over to the Americans : this 
proposal I could not make when on parole. 



Moultrie's vigilance. 259 

I must therefore conclude with allowing you the free 
liberty to make what use of this you may think proper. 
Think better of me. 

'' I am, my lord, your lordship's most obedient hum- 
ble servant, 

Wm. Moultrie. 

Both these letters and the note, we copy from Moul- 
trie's Memoirs. 

The answer of Moultrie, of course, put an end to the 
tempting solicitations of the British officers. Among all 
the documents relating to the history of the Revolution 
there is none more creditable to the writer than this. 
Written off hand on the day after he had received Lord 
Montague's letter, it is hardly less remarkable for its 
dignified and elevated style than for the noble sentiments 
which actuated the writer. It well deserves the admira- 
tion and the remembrance of every American. 

The period during which Moultrie remained a captive at 
Charleston was one of ceaseless activity and vigilance. 
As senior officer it was his duty to defend the American 
prisoners as best he could from the constant oppressions 
of the British, and to remonstrate against their frequent 
infractions of the terms of the capitulation. His Memoirs 
contain many letters addressed to the British officers on 
this subject, and they evince not only his vigilance and 
zeal in the defence of his countrymen, but a determina- 
tion to exact from the haughty officials of the enemy 
the respect which was due to himself. 

At length, on the 3d of May 1781, a cartel for the 
exchange and relief of prisoners was agreed to between 



260 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

Captain Cornwallis on the part of Lord Cornwallis, and 
Lieutenant Colonel Carrington on the part of General 
Greene. 

" This cartel being agreed upon, "says Moultrie, "Major 
Hyrne, the American commissary of prisoners, came to 
Charleston and proceeded upon the exchange of prisoners, 
and where similar ranks could not apply, the officers 
were paroled ; some went to Philadelphia, others to 
Virginia with what soldiers were left, and the sick to the 
hospital. 

" I was allowed a small brig for myself and family, and 
such others as I chose to take on board ; in consequence 
of which, by applications and intreaties of my friends, we 
had upwards of ninety souls on board that small brig ; 
we sailed some time in June, and after a pleasant pas- 
sage, arrived safe in Philadelphia ; the other vessels all 
arrived in Virginia." 

Although Moultrie was allowed by the terms of the 
cartel to go to Philadelphia, his final release from his 
parole did not take place till February 1782, when an 
exchange of the prisoners captured with Burgoyne took 
place. He was promoted by Congress to the rank of 
Major General, but was not again called into active ser- 
vice, as his health was still infirm and the war was now 
virtually closed. The exciting events which took place 
during the period of his captivity will be found in the 
Life of Marion, in the preceding part of this volume. 

The following extract from Moultrie's Memoirs pre- 
sents an affecting picture of his return to his home in 
South Carolina : 

General Burgoyne's exchange released almost a whole 



VISIT TO GENERAL GREENE. 261 

brigade of American officers, prisoners of war. Only 
two of the South Carolina line were included in this ex- 
change, which were Colonel C. Pinckney* and myself. 

Soon after my being exchanged, I prepared to set off 
with my family for South Carolina, and early in April 
left Philadelphia, and arrived at Waccamaw in South 
Carolina in June, where I was informed that General 
Greene's army lay at Ashley River, quite inactive, and 
no military operations going on. I remained at Winyaw 
till late in September, at which time I paid a visit to 
General Greene. It was the most dull, melancholy, 
dreary ride that any one could possibly take, of about 
one hundred miles through the woods of that country ; 
what I had been accustomed to see abound with live- 
stock and#wild fowl of every kind, was now destitute of 
all. It had been so completely checquered by the dif- 
ferent parties, that not one part of it had been left unex- 
plored ; consequently, not the vestige of horses, cattle, 
hogs, or deer, &c. was to be found. The squirrels and 
birds of every kind were totally destroyed. The dra- 
goons told me, that on their scouts, no living creature 
was to be seen, except now and then a few camp scaven- 
gers, f picking the bones of some unfortunate fellows, 
who had been shot or cut down, and left in the wood 
above ground. In my visit to General Greene's camp, as 
there w^as some danger from the enemy, I made a circuitous 
route, to General Marion's camp, then on Santee-river, 
to get an escort, which he gave me, of twenty infantry 
and twenty cavalry : those, with the volunteers that at- 
tended me from Georgetown, made us pretty strong. On 
* General Pinckney. f Turkey Buzzards. 



262 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

my way from General Marion's to General Greene's 
camp, my plantation was in the direct road, where I 
called and stayed a night. On my entering the place, 
as soon as the negroes discovered that I was of the party, 
there was immediately a general alarm, and an outcry 
through the plantation, that " Massa was come ! Massa 
was come !" and they were running from every part with 
great joy to see me. I stood in the piazza to receive 
them : they gazed at me with astonishment, and every 
one came and took me by the hand, saying, " God bless 
you, massa ! we glad for see you, massa !" and every now 
and then some one or other would come out with a "ky!" 
And the old Africans joined in a war-song in their own 
language, of " welcome the war home." It was an af- 
fecting meeting between the slaves and the mister : the 
tears stole from my eyes and run down my cheeks. A 
number of gentlemen that were with me, could not help 
being affected at the scene. Many are still alive, and 
remember the circumstance. I then possessed about two 
hundred slaves, and not one of them left me during the 
war, although they had had great offers, nay, some were 
carried down to work on the British lines, yet they always 
contrived to make their escape and return home. My 
plantation I found to be a desolate place ; stock of every 
kind taken off; the furniture carried away, and my estate 
had been under sequestration. The next day we arrived 
at General Greene's camp ; on our near approach, the 
air was so infected with the stench of the camp, that we 
could scarcely bear the smell ; which shows the necessity 
of moving camp often in the summer, in these hot cli- 
mates. General Greene, expecting the evacuation to 



EVACUATION OF CHARLESTON. 263 

take place every week, from the month of August, was 
the reason he remained so long on the same ground. 

Before I conclude my memoirs, I must make my last 
tribute of thanks to the patriotic fair of South Carolina 
and Georgia, for their heroism and virtue in those dread- 
ful and dangerous times whilst we were struggling for 
our liberties. Their conduct deserves the highest ap- 
plause ; and a pillar ought to be raised to their memory : 
their fortitude was such as gave examples, even to the 
men, to stand firm ; and they despised those who were 
not enthusiasts in their country's cause. The hardships 
and difficulties they experienced were too much for their 
delicate frames to bear ; yet they submitted to them with 
a heroism and virtue that never has been excelled by 
the ladies of any country ; and I can with safety say, 
that their conduct during the war contributed much to 
the independence of America. 

Soon after this General Moultrie was gratified by 
being present at the surrender of Charleston. The fol- 
lowing is his characteristic description of this scene : 

On Saturday, the fourteenth day of December, 1782, \/ 
the British troops evacuated Charleston, after having 
possession two years, seven months, and two days. 

The evacuation took place in the following manner : 
Brigadier General Wayne was ordered to cross Ashley 
River,* with three hundred light-infantry, eighty of Lee's 
cavalry, and twenty artillery, with two six ponders, to 
move down towards the British lines, which was near 
Colonel Shubrick's, and consisted of three redoubts. 

* General Greene's army lay on the west side of Ashley River, above 
the ferry. / 



264 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

General Leslie who commanded in town, sent a message 
to General Wayne, informing him, that he would next 
day leave the town, and for the peace and security of 
the inhabitants, and of the town, would propose to leave 
their advanced works next day at the firing of the morn- 
ing gun ; at which time, General Wayne should move on 
slowly, and take possession ; and from thence to follow 
the British troops into town, keeping at a respectful dis- 
tance (say about two hundred yards) ; and when the Bri- 
tish troops after passing through the town gates, should 
file off to Gadsden's Wharf, General Wayne was to pro- 
ceed into town ; which was done with great order and 
regularity, except now and then the British called to 
General Wayne that he was too fast upon them, which 
occasioned him to halt a little. About 11 o'clock, A. M. 
the American troops marched into town and took post at 
the State-house. 

At 3 o'clock, P. M., General Greene conducted Gov- 
ernor Mathews, and the council, with some other of the 
citizens, into town ; we marched in, in the following 
order : an advance of an officer and thirty of Lee's dra- 
goons ; then followed the governor and General Greene ; 
the next two were General Gist and myself; after us fol- 
lowed the council, citizens, and officers, making altogether 
about fifty : one hundred and eighty cavalry brought up 
the rear : we halted in Broad street, opposite where the 
South Carolina Bank now stands ; there we alighted, and 
the cavalry discharged to quarters : afterwards, every 
one went where they pleased ; some in viewing the town, 
others in visiting their friends. It was a grand and 
pleasing sight, to see the enemy's fleet (upwards of three 



EVACUATION OF CHARLESTON. 265 

hundred sail) lying at anchor from Fort Johnson to 
Five-fathom hole, in a cm've line, as the current runs ; 
and what made it more agreeable, they -were ready to 
depart from the port. The great joy that was felt on 
this day, by the citizens and soldiers, was inexpressible: 
the widows, the orphans, the aged men and others, who, 
from their particular situations, were obliged to remain 
in Charleston, many of whom had been cooped up in one 
room of their own elegant houses for upwards of two 
years, whilst the other parts were occupied by the British 
officers, many of whom were a rude, uncivil set of gentle- 
men ; their situations, and the many mortifying circum- 
stances occurred to them in that time, must have been 
truly distressing. I cannot forget that happy day when 
we marched into Charleston with the American troops ; 
it was a proud day to me, and I felt myself much elated, 
at seeing the balconies, the doors, and windows crowded 
with the patriotic fair, the aged citizens and others, con- 
gratulating us on our return home, saying, " God bless 
you, gentlemen ! you are welcome home, gentlemen !" 
Eoth citizens and soldiers shed mutual tears of joy. 

It was an ample reward for the triumphant soldier, 
after all the hazards and fatigues of war, which he had 
gone through, to be the instrument of releasing his 
friends and fellow citizens from captivity, and restoring 
to them their liberties and possession of their city and 
country again. 

This fourteenth day of December, 1782, ought never 
to be forgotten by the Carolinians ; it ought to be a day 
of festivity with them, as it was the real day of their de- 
liverance and independence. 



266 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 

"The close of the Revolutionary war," says the ex- 
cellent writer whom we have repeatedly quoted, " did not 
close the public career of Moultrie. The establishment 
of a new government — that of a republican state — af- 
forded a grateful opportunity to his countrymen, of which 
they promptly availed themselves, to acknowledge his 
great and patriotic service. In 1785, he was raised to 
the gubernatorial chair of South Carolina, being the third 
person to whom this honor had been accorded. During 
his administration, the town of Columbia was laid out for 
the seat of government. In 1794, he was a second time 
elected to this office, the duties of which he fulfilled with 
honor and to the satisfaction of all parties. His career, 
henceforward, to the close of his life, was one of unin- 
terrupted and honorable repose. Slander never presumed 
to smutch his garments. Of a calm, equable temper, 
great good sense, a firm undaunted spirit, a kind heart, 
and easy indulgent moods, he was beloved by his personal 
associates, and revered by all. His character is one of 
those of which his career will sufiiciently speak. He 
lived beyond the appointed limits of human life — dying 
on the 27th September, 1805, in the seventy-fifth year 
of his age. His name, deeds, and virtues, constitute a 
noble portion of American character, to which we may 
point the attention of our sons, with a sure confidence in 
the excellence of his example." 



MAJOR GENERAL ANDREW PICKENS. 

267 



LIFE OF 



MAJOR GENERAL ANDREW PICKENS. 



CHAPTER I. 



BIrtli and ancestry of General Pickens — His father emigrates to Vir- 
ginia, and afterwards to South Carolina — Pickens serves in the 
French war, and in the Cherokee war — Engages in farming at the 
Long Cane settlement — Serves in the Revolutionary war in the South 
— Defeats the loyalists at Kettle Creek — Services after the fall of 
Charleston — At the battle of Cowpeus — Attached to the main 
army — Detached with Marion to Xorth Carolina — Pursuit of 
Tarleton, and defeat of Pyle. 

This able commander was born in Bucks county, 
Pennsylvania, on the 13th of September, 1739. His 
ancestors were driven from France by the revocation of 
the edict of Nantz. They first settled in Scotland, and 
afterwards in the north of Ireland. His father emi- 
grated to Pennsylvania, from whence he removed to Au- 
gusta county, Virginia, and soon after to the Waxhaws, 
in South Carolina, before Andrew had attained the age 

of manhood. 

(269) 



270 LIFE OP MAJOR GENERAL ANDREW PICKENS. 

Like many of our most dlstinguislied officers of the Revo- 
lution, he commenced his military services in the French 
war, which terminated in 1763, when he began to devel- 
ope those qualities for which he was afterwards so emi- 
nently distinguished. In the year 1761, he served as a 
volunteer with Moultrie and Marion, in a bloody but 
successful expedition, under Lieutenant Colonel Grant, 
a British officer, sent by General Amherst to command 
against the Cherokees. After the termination of the 
war, he removed to the Long Cane settlement, and was 
wholly engaged for several years in the usual pursuits 
of a frontier country : hunting and agriculture. 

At an early period he took a decided stand against 
the right claimed by Great Britain, to tax her colonies 
without their consent : and at the commencement of the 
Kevolution was appointed captain of militia. 

He served in the southern department of the United 
States, and rapidly rose to the rank of colonel in the 
South Carolina militia. At the time of the conquest of 
Georgia (1778-9) Pickens distinguished himself by de- 
feating the loyalists at Kettle creek. Savannah, Sun- 
bury, and Augusta, had successively fallen into the 
hands of the British ; the first of these places being 
taken by Lieutenant Colonel Campbell, and the two 
others by General Prevost. 

From Augusta, Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton, of the 
North Carolina regiment, advanced, with a suitable de- 
tachment, further west to crush all remaining resistance, 
and to encourage the loyalists to step forward and give 
their active aid in confirming the establishment of royal 
authority. Every attempt to interrupt the progress of 



LOYALISTS ROUTED. 271 

this officer was ineffectual ; and seven hundred loyalists 
embodied with the determination to force their way to 
the British camp. 

Colonel Pickens, true to his country, and correctly 
interpreting the movement under Hamilton, assembled 
his regiment, and drew near to him for the purpose of 
counteracting his operations. 

Finding this officer invulnerable, he suddenly turned 
from him, to strike at the loyalists advancing towards 
Augusta. He fell in with them at Kettle creek, and 
instantly attacked them. The action was contested with 
zeal and firmness ; w^hen Colonel Boyd, the commander 
of the loyalists, fell, and his death was soon followed by 
the route of his associates. Nevertheless, three hundred 
of the body contrived to effect their union with the Bri- 
tish army. 

After the fall of Charleston, and previous to the bat- 
tle of Camden, Marion, Sumpter, and Pickens, were 
engaged in harassing the enemy in the Carolinas and 
restoring the spirits of the patriots which had been 
sorely depressed by the conquest of South Carolina, and 
the harsh measures which followed. General Lee, in his 
*' Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the 
United States," after sketching the characters and ap- 
pearance of Marion and Sumpter, thus notices Pickens 
and his operations at the time. 

A third gentleman quickly followed their great exam- 
ple. Andrew Pickens, younger than either of them, 
inexperienced in war, with a sound head, a virtuous 
heart, and a daring spirit, joined in the noble resolve to 
burst the chains of bondage riveted upon the two south- 



272 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL ANDREW PICKENS. 

em states, and soon proved himself worthy of being 
ranked with his illustrious precursors. This gentleman 
was also promoted by the governor to the station of bri- 
gadier general ; and having assembled his associates of 
the same bold and hardy cast, distinguished himself and 
corps in the progress of the war, by the patience and 
cheerfulness with which every privation was borne, and 
the gallantry with which every danger was confronted. 
The country between Ninety-Six and Augusta received 
his chief attention. These leaders were always engaged 
in breaking up the smaller posts and the intermediate 
communications, or in repairing losses sustained by ac- 
tion. The troops which followed their fortunes, on their 
own or their friends' horses, were armed with rifles ; in 
the use of which they had become expert ; a small por- 
tion only, who acted as cavalry, being provided with 
sabres. When they approached the enemy they dis- 
mounted, leaving their horses in some hidden spot to the 
care of a few of their comrades. Victorious or van- 
quished, they flew to their horses, and thus improved vic- 
tory or secured retreat. 

Their marches were long and toilsome, seldom feeding 
more than once a day. Their combats were like those 
of the Parthians, sudden and fierce ; their decisions 
speedy, and all subsequent measures equally prompt. 
With alternate fortunes, they persevered to the last, and 
greatly contributed to that success which was the first 
object of their efibrts. -- 

We next find General Pickens taking an active and 
important part in the celebrated battle of the Cowpens, 
where the Americans, under Morgan, inflicted a signal 



INTREPIDITY AT COWPENS.^ 273 

defeat on tlie British detachment commanded by Colonel 
Tarleton. He there commanded the militia forces ; and, 
animated by the spirit and courage of their commander 
in that important battle, they fairly won an equal share 
of glory with the continentals, under Colonel Howard. 
For his gallantry and conduct on that occasion. Con- 
gress voted him a sword. 

Of his intrepid conduct at the battle of the Cowpens, 
it is scarcely necessary to speak. It is a well-known 
fact, that he not only prevailed upon his riflemen to re- 
tain their fire till it could be given with deadly effect, 
but, when broken, and compelled to retreat, that he ral- 
lied them ; and what had never before been effected ivitJi 
militia, brought them a second time to meet their enemy, 
and, by continued exertion, to accomplish their final 
surrender. 

After this battle Pickens's brigade was attached to 
the main army under General Greene, and remained 
with him during the celebrated retreat which terminated 
in the passage of the Dan. After this passage was 
effected. Lord Cornwallis, then commander of the Bri- 
tish forces in the south, considering North Carolina to 
be conquered, raised his standard at Hillsborough, and 
invited the loyalists of the province to join him in fully 
re-establishing the British authority. 

General Greene, aware of his movements, and believing 
that the people were rapidly organizing troops and join- 
ing the British army, decided to re-enter North Carolina 
and endeavor to defeat the measures of Cornwallis. 

" Greene," says General Lee,* *' persevering in his 

* Lee's Memoirs. 
18 



274 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL ANDREW PICKENS. 

determination to risk his army again in North Carolina, 
— to rouse the drooping spirits of his friends, and to 
check the audacity of his foes, — the legion of Lee, 
strengthened by two companies of the veterans of Mary- 
land under Captain Oldham, -with the corps of South 
Carolina militia nnder Brigadier Pickens, was ordered, 
in the morning of the 18th, to repass the Dan. This 
was readily performed ; all the boats heretofore collected 
being still held together by Carrington for the use of the 
army. 

Pickens and Lee were commanded to gain the front 
of Cornwallis, to place themselves as close to him as 
safety would permit, to interrupt his communication with 
the country, to repress the meditated rising of the loyal- 
ists, and, at all events, to intercept any party of them 
which might attempt to join the enemy. 

Thes€ officers lost no time in advancing to the theatre 
of operations ; and having in the course of the march pro- 
vided capable guides, sat down that evening in a covert 
position, short of the great road leading from the Haw 
river to Hillsborough, and detached exploring parties of 
cavalry on the roads towards Hillsborough and towards 
the Haw. In the course of the evening, Greene, never 
avoiding toil or danger, with a small escort of Washing- 
ton's cavalry left his army, and overtook the advanced 
corps in its secret position. He continued with it during 
the night, and renewed to the two commandants explana- 
tions of his plan and object. He communicated his 
intention of repassing the Dan with the army in a few 
days, directing his route towards the upper country ; too 
remote, as he remarked, from the advanced corps to af- 



FALLS IN WITH COLONEL PYLE. 275 

ford the smallest protection ; urged cordial concert, 
pressed in fervid terms the necessity of unceasing vigi- 
lance, and the most cautious circumspection. 

In obedience to General Greene's orders, Pickens and 
Lee, learning that Colonel Tarleton had just passed from 
Hillsborough with horse, foot, and artillery, destined to 
pass the Haw river to embody and bring in the loyalists, 
marched in pursuit of him, with a view to bring him to 
action. In this attempt they were not successful ; but 
while engaged in the pursuit of Tarleton, they fell in 
wdth Colonel Pyle at the head of a body of loyalists. The 
surprise of this officer's corps is thus narrated by Lee.* 

Lee's van officer, preceding him a few hundred yards 
only, was met by two well mounted young countrymen, 
who being accosted in the assumed character, promptly 
answered, that they were rejoiced in meeting us, having 
been sent forward by Colonel Pyle for the purpose of 
ascertaining Tarleton 's camp, to whom the colonel was 
repairing with four hundred loyalists. These youths were 
immediately sent to Lieutenant Colonel Lee, but were 
preceded by a dragoon, with the information imparted. 
Immediately upon the arrival of the dragoon Lee des- 
patched his adjutant with the intelligence to Brigadier 
Pickens, requesting him to place his riflemen (easily to 
be distinguished by the green twigs in their hats, the 
customary emblem of our militia in the South) on the left 
flank, out of sight ; which was readily to be done, as we 
were then in a thick wood ; at the same time to assure 
him that Lee was determined, in conformity with the 
concerted plan, to make an attempt with the legion, of 

* Lee's Memoirs. 



276 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL ANDREW PICKENS. 

turning the occurrence to advantage. The prisoners 
were also reminded, as was the serjeant having them in 
care, of the past order. This commnication was scarcely 
finished, before the two dragoons rode up with the two 
countrymen, who were received with much apparent 
cordiality ; Lee attentively listening with seeming satis- 
faction to their annunciation of the laudable spirit which 
had actuated Colonel Pyle and his associates, and which 
they asserted was rapidly spreading through the country. 
Finding them completely deceived, (for they not only 
believed the troops they saw to be British, but overlook- 
ing what had been told them, took them to be Tarleton's, 
addressing the commandant as that officer,) Lee sent one 
of them back with the two dragoons to his van, thence 
to proceed to Colonel Pyle with Lieutenant Colonel 
Tarleton's gratulations, and his request that he would be 
so good as to draw out on the margin of the road, so as 
to give convenient room for his much fatigued troops to 
pass without delay to their night position, while the other 
was detained to accompany the supposed Tarleton. 
Orders were at the same time despatched to the van 
officer to halt as soon as he got in sight of the loyalists. 

As Lee approached his officer, who had halted, highly 
gratified with the propitious prospect, and listening to 
the overflowings of respect and devotion, falling inces- 
santly from the lips of his young attendant, his comrade, 
who had been sent to Colonel Pyle, returned with his 
expected compliance, announced in most respectful 
terms. 

The column of horse now became complete by union 
with the van, and Colonel Pyle was in sight on the right 



COLONEL PYLE DECEIVED. 277 

of the road, drawn up as suggested, witli his left to the 
advancing column.* This last circumstance was for- 
tunate, as Lieutenant Colonel Lee had concluded to make 
known to the colonel his real character as soon as he 
should confront him, with a solemn assurance of his and 
his associates' perfect exemption from injury, with the 
choice of returning to their homes, or of taking a more 
generous part, hj uniting with the defenders of their 
common country against the common foe. By Pyle's 
lucky occupation of the right side of the road, it became 
necessary for Lee to pass along the whole line of the 
loyalists before he could reach their colonel ; and thus to 
place his column of horse in the most eligible situation 
for any vicissitude. 

They were Inounted like our militia, fitted like them 
to move on horseback, and to fight dismounted.. Their 
guns (rifles and fowling pieces) were on their shoulders, 
the muzzles consequently in an opposite direction to the 
cavalry. In the event of discovery, they must have 
changed the direction before they could fire, — a motion 
not to be performed, with a body of dragoons close in 
with their horses' heads and their swords drawn. 

The danger of this rare expedient was by no means so 
great as it appears to be on first view. 

* Had Pyle accidentally arrayed upon the left of the road, he would 
have been found on the right of his regiment, the flank first reached 
by the column of the horse. Some pretext must have been adopted 
to have moved on to the other flank, so as to place the horse in the 
requisite posture, before Lieutenant Colonel Lee could make the desired 
communication ; therefore it was fortunate that he should have chosen 
the side of the road on which he was found posted. 



278 LIFE OP MAJOR GENEBAL ANDREW PICKENS. 

Lee passed along the line at the head of the column 
with a smiling countenancej dropping, occasionally, ex- 
pressions complimentary to the good looks and commend- 
able conduct of his loyal friends. At length he reached 
Colonel Pyle, when the customary civilities were promptly 
interchanged. Grasping Pyle by the hand Lee was in 
the act of consummating his plan, when the enemy's left, 
discovering Pickens' militia, not sufficiently concealed, 
began to fire upon the rear of the cavalry commanded by 
Captain Eggleston. This officer instantly turned upon 
the foe, as did immediately after the whole column. The 
conflict was quickly decided, and bloody on one side only. 
Ninety of the royalists were killed, and most of the 
survivors wounded. Dispersing in every direction, not 
being pursued, they escaped. During this sudden ren- 
contre, in some parts of the line the cry of mercy was 
heard, coupled vfith assurance of being our best friends ; 
but no expostulation could be admitted in a conjuncture 
so critical. Humanity even forbad it, as its first injunc- 
tion is to take care of your own : and our safety was not 
compatible with that of the supplicants, until disabled to 
oifend. Pyle, falling under many wounds, was left on 
the field as dying, and yet he survived. We lost not a 
man, and only one horse. 

The pursuit of Tarleton was now resumed, but he es- 
caped the corps of Pickens and Lee, and by forced 
marches returned to Hillsborough. 

"Fortune," says Lee, ''which sways so imperiously 
the afiairs of war, demonstrated throughout the operation 
its supreme control. Nothing was omitted on the part 



lee's remarks. 279 

of the Americans to give to the expedition the desired 
termination ; but the very bright prospects which for a 
time presented themselves, were suddenly overcast, — 
the capricious goddess gave us Pyle and saved Tarle- 
ton." 



280 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL ANDREW PICKENS. 



CHAPTER II. 

Pickens and Lee besiege and take Augusta — Tliey rejoin the main 
army — Battle of Eutaw — Pickens's expedition against the Chero- 
kee Indians — Services as commissioner under the treaty of Hope- 
well — Member of the Convention of South Carolina — Of the legis- 
lature — Member of Congress— Consulted by Washington on Indian 
affairs — Appointed Major General — Retires from public life — Re- 
called to the legislature in 1812 — His death and character. 

After the incidents related in the last chapter, Gene- 
ral Pickens, with Lieutenant Colonel Lee, and Colonel 
Williams, formed a strong light corps to operate in the 
country between the armies of Greene and Cornwallis, 
General Pickens was soon relieved from this duty and 
ordered to assist with his militia in the capture of Au- 
gusta. Consequently his brigade was not present at the 
battle of Guilford. 

His first object was Augusta, and in the siege of that 
place, he was assisted by Lieutenant Colonel Lee with 
his legion, who had been ordered to join him, and had 
arrived just before the siege commenced. The place 
was very ably defended by the commandant. Lieutenant 
Colonel Brown, and after the siege had lasted fifteen 
days, it was surrendered to Pickens and Lee (June 5th, 
1781). After the surrender of Augusta, Pickens and 



IRRUPTION OF THE CHEROKEES. 281 

Lee joined the main army under General Greene, then 
engaged in the siege of Ninet j-Six. 

General Pickens remaining with the main army, took 
an active part with his militia in the battle of Eutaw, 
Sept. 8th. The remainder of the militia were com- 
manded by General Marion. In the battle, " the mili- 
tia," says Marshall, "being commanded by generals of 
experience and courage, exhibited a degree of firmness 
not common to that species of force, and maintained their 
ground with unexpected obstinacy. The result was a 
splendid victory. General Pickens was wounded in this 
battle." 

General Pickens's next important service was the con- 
quest of his old enemies, the Cherokee Indians. Lee, 
in his Memoirs, gives the following account of this expe- 
dition : 

About this time Greene's attention to the leading ob- 
ject of his measures was diverted by accounts from the 
West, announcing the irruption of the Cherokee tribe of 
Indians on the district of Ninety-Six ; which having 
been as sudden as it was unexpected, had been attended 
with serious injury. Several families were massacred, 
and many houses were burnt. Brigadier Pickens had, 
after his long and harassing campaign, returned home 
with his militia. The moment he heard of the late in- 
cursion, he again summoned around him his well tried 
warriors. To this officer the general resorted, when he 
was informed of this new enemy. Among the first acts 
of General Greene's command in the South, was the 
conclusion of a treaty with this tribe of Indians, by 
which they had engaged to preserve a state of neutrality 



282 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL ANDREW PICKENS. 

SO long as the war between the United States and Great 
Britain should continue. What is extraordinary, the 
Cherokees rigidly complied with their engagement during 
the past campaign, when the success of Lord Cornwallis, 
with the many difficulties Greene had to encounter, 
would have given weight to their interference. Now, 
when the British army in Virginia had been forced to 
surrender, and that acting in South Carolina and Geor- 
gia had been compelled to take shelter in the district of 
country protected by forts and ships, they were so rash 
as to listen to exhortations often before applied in vain. 
Pickens followed the incursors into their own country ; 
and having seen much and various service, judiciously 
determined to mount his detachment, adding the sword* 
to the rifle and tomahawk. He well knew the force of 
cavalry, having felt it at the Cowpens, though it was 
then feebly exemplified by the enemy. Forming his 
mind upon experience, the straight road to truth, he 
wisely resolved to add to the arms, usual in Indian wars, 
the unusual one above mentioned. 

* John Kogers Clarke, colonel in the service of Virginia against 
our neighbors the Indians, in the Revolutionary war, was among our 
best soldiers, and better acquainted with the Indian warfare than any 
ofificer in our army. This gentleman, after one of his campaigns, met 
in Richmond several of our cavalry officers, and devoted all his leisure 
in ascertaining from them the various uses to which horse were ap- 
plied, as well as the manner of such application. The information he 
acquired, determined him to introduce this species of force against the 
Indians, as that of all others the most effectual. 

By himself, by Pickens, and lately by Wayne, was the accuracy of 
Clarke's opinion justified 5 and no doubt remains, but in all armies pre- 
pared to act against the Indians, a very considerable proportion of it 
ought to be light cavalry. 



DEFEATS THE CIIEROKEES. 283 

In a few days he reached the country of the Indians, 
who, as is the practice among the uncivilized in all ages, 
ran to arms to oppose the invader, anxious to join issue 
in battle without delay. Pickens with his accustomed 
diligence, took care to inform himself accurately of the 
designs and strength of the enemy ; and as soon as he 
had ascertained these important facts, advanced upon 
him. The rifle was only used while reconnoitring the 
hostile position. As soon as this was finished, he re- 
mounted his soldiers and ordered a charge. With fury 
his brave warriors rushed forward, and the astonished 
Indians fled in dismay. Not only the novelty of the 
mode, which always has its influence, but the sense of 
his incapacity to resist horse, operated upon the flying 
forester. 

Pickens followed up his success, and killed forty Che- 
rokees, took a great number of prisoners of both sexes, 
and burnt thirteen towns. He lost not a soldier, and 
had only two wounded. The sachems of the nation as- 
sembled in council ; and thoroughly satisfied of their in- 
ability to contend against an enemy who added the speed 
of the horse* to the skill and strength of man, they de- 
termined to implore forgiveness for the past, and never 
again to provoke the wrath of their triumphant foe. 
This resolution being adopted, commissioners were ac- 

* The Indian, when fighting ^Yith infantry, is very daring. This 
temper of mind results from his consciousness of his superior fieetness ; 
which, together with bis better knowledge of the woods, assures to 
him extrication out of difficulties, though desperate. This temper of 
mind is extinguished, when he finds that he is to save himself from 
the pursuit of horse, and with its extinction falls that habitual bold- 
ness. 



284 LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL ANDREW PICKENS. 

cordlngly appointed, "with directions to await upon Gene- 
ral Pickens, and to adjust with him the terms of peace. 
These were readily listened to, and a treaty concluded, 
which not only terminated the existing war, but pro- 
vided against its renewal, by a stipulation on the part of 
the Cherokees, in which they engaged not only to re- 
main deaf to the exhortations of the British emissaries, 
but that they would apprehend all such evil doers, and 
deliver them to the governor of South Carolina, to be 
dealt with as he might direct. 

The object of the expedition being thus happily ac- 
complished. General Pickens evacuated the Indian terri- 
tory and returned to South Carolina, before the expira- 
tion of the third week from his departure, without losing 
a single soldier. 

This expedition against the Cherokees was the last 
occasion on which General Pickens served in a separate 
command. It formed a brilliant close to his military 
career. 

Peace being restored, the voice of his country called 
him to serve her in various civil capacities ; and he con- 
tinued, without interruption, in public employment until 
about 1801. By the treaty of Hopewell, v/ith the Che- 
rokees, in which he was one of the commissioners, the 
cession of that portion of the state now called Pendleton 
and Greenville, was obtained. Soon after he settled at 
Hopewell, on Keowee river, where the treaty was held. 
He was a member of the legislature, and afterwards of 
the convention which formed the sta,te constitution. He 
was elected a member under the new constitution, until 
1794, when he became a member of Congress. Declin- 



"^^^' 













RETIRES TO HIS FARM. 285 

ing a re-election to Congress, lie was again returned a 
member to the legislature, in which post he continued 
until about 1811. Such was the confidence of General 
Washington in him, that he requested his attendance at 
Philadelphia, to consult with him on the practicability 
and best means of civilizing the southern Indians ; and 
he also offered him the command of a brigade of light 
troops, under the command of General Wayne, in his 
campaigns against the northern Indians ; which he de- 
clined. In 1794, when the militia was first organized 
conformably to the act of Congress, he was appointed 
one of the two major generals ; which commission he re- 
signed after holding it a few years. He was employed 
by the United States as a commissioner in all the treaties 
with the southern Indians, until he withdrew from public 
life. 

Determining to enjoy that serenity and tranquillity 
which he had so greatly contributed to establish, with 
the simplicity of the early times of the Roman republic, 
he retired from the busy scenes of life, and settled on his 
farm at Tomussee, (a place peculiarly interesting to him,) 
where he devoted himself with little interruption to do- 
mestic pursuits and reflection until his death. In this 
tranquil period, few events happened to check the tenor 
of his happy and virtuous life. Revered and beloved by 
all, his house, though remote from the more frequented 
parts of the state, was still the resort of numerous friends 
and relations ; and often received the visits of the en- 
lightened traveler. Such was the gentle current of his 
latter years; still, of earthly objects, his country was the 
first in his affections. He viewed with great interest our 



286 LIFE OF MAJOPt GENERAL A2n'DHEW PICKENS. 

late struggle, and tlie causes whicli excited it, distinctly 
perceiving, that in its consequences the prosperity, inde- 
pendence, and glory of his country were deeply involved ; 
he was alive to its various incidents. In this hour of 
danger the eyes of his fellow citizens were again turned 
to their tried servant; without his knowledge he was 
again called by the spontaneous voice of his fellow citi- 
zens into public service. Confidence thus expressed 
could not be disregarded ; he accepted a seat in the leg- 
islature in 1812, and was pressed to serve as governor 
at this eventful crisis, which, with his characteristic 
moderation and good sense, he declined. He thought 
the struggle should be left to more youthful hands. 

General Pickens died at his seat in Pendleton District, 
South Carolina, on the 11th of October, 1817, at the 
age of seventy-eight years. 

In his domestic circumstances he was fortunate : by 
industry and attention he soon acquired a competency ; 
and never desired more. He married in early life, has 
left a numerous and prosperous offspring, and his consort, 
the sister of John E. Calhoun, formerly a senator in 
Congress, died but a few years before him. 

Of his private character little need be said ; for among 
its strongest features was simplicity without contrariety 
or change ; from his youth to age he was ever distin- 
guished for a punctual performance of all the duties of 
life. He was from early life a firm believer in the chris- 
tian religion, and an influential member of the Presby- 
terian church. The strong points of his character were 
decision and prudence, accompanied, especially in youth, 
with remarkable taciturnity. He was of middle stature, 



CHARACTER AND DEATH. 287 

active and robust ; and enjoyed, in consequence of the 
natural goodness of his constitution, and from early and 
combined temperance and activity, almost uninterrupted 
health to the last moments of his life. He retained much 
of his strength and nearly all his mental vigor in per- 
fection ; and died, not in consequence of the exhaustion 
of nature, or previous sickness ; for the stroke of death 
fell suddenly, and while his personal acquaintances were 
anticipating the addition of many years to his life. 



GOVERNOR JOHN RUTLEDGE. 



(289) 



19 



LIFE OF 



GOVERNOR JOHN RUTLEDGE 



CHAPTER I. 

Birth and Parentage of Governor Rutledge — Education — Practice at 
the bar — Resistance to Governor Boone — Member of the Continen- 
tal Congress — Member of the Convention — Member of Congress- 
President of South Carolina — His conduct in relation to the defence 
of Fort Moultrie. 

John Rutledge was born in the year 1739, and was 
the son of Dr. John Rutledge who, with his brother 
Andrew, both natives of Ireland, arrived in Carolina 
about the year 1735, and there practised, the one law 
and the other physic. Dr. Rutledge married Miss Hext, 
who in the 15th year of her age gave birth to the subject 
of this memoir. At a very early period she was left a 
widow, and added one to the many examples of illustrious 
matrons, who, devoting their whole attention to their 
orphan offspring, have brought forward distinguished 
ornaments of human nature. 

The early education of John Rutledge was conducted 

(291) 



292 LIFE or GOVERNOR JOHN RUTLEDGE. 

by David Khincl, an excellent classical scholar, and one 
of the most successful of the early instructors of youth 
in Carolina. After he had made considerable progress 
in the Latin and Greek classics, he entered on the study 
of law with James Parsons, and was afterwards entered 
a student in the temple, and proceeding barrister, came 
out to Charleston and commenced the practice of law in 
1761. One of the first causes in which he engaged was 
an action for breach of a promise of marriage. The sub- 
ject was interesting, and gave an excellent opportunity 
for displaying his talents. It was improved, and his 
eloquence astonished all who heard him. 

Instead of rising by degrees to the head of his pro- 
fession, he burst forth at once the able lawyer and ac- 
complished orator. Business flowed in upon him. He 
was employed in the most difficult causes, and retained 
with the largest fees that were usually given. The 
client in whose service he engaged, was supposed to be 
in a fair way of gaining his cause. He was but a short 
time in practice, when that cloud began to lower which, 
in the course of ten or twelve years, burst forth in a re- 
-volutionary storm. 

In the year 1764 Governor Boone refused to administer 
to Christopher Gadsden the oaths which the law required 
every person returned as a member in the commons house 
of assembly to take before he entered on his legislative 
functions. This kindled the indignation of the house as 
being an interference with their constitutional privileges 
as the sole judges of the qualifications of their own mem- 
bers. In rousing the assembly and the people to resist 
all interferences of the royal governors, in deciding who 



CONTINENTAL CONGRESS PROPOSED. 293 

should, or who should not, be members of the commons 
house of assembly, John Rutledge kindled a spark which 
has never since been extinguished. 

This controversy was scarcely ended when the memor- 
able stamp act was passed. The British colonies were 
then detached from each other, and had never acted in 
concert. A proposition was made by the assembly of 
Massachusetts to the different provincial assemblies for 
appointing committees from each to meet in congress as 
a rallying point of union. To this novel project many 
objections were made ; some doubted its legality, others 
its expedience, and most its efficiency. To remove objec- 
tions, to conciliate opposition, and to gain the hearty 
concurrence of the assembly and the people, was no easy 
matter. In accomplishing these objects, the abilities of 
John Rutledge were successfully exerted. Objections 
vanished — prejudices gave way before his eloquence. 
The public mind was illuminated, and a more correct 
mode of thinking took place. 

A vote for appointing deputies to a continental Con- 
gress was carried in South Carolina at an early day, and 
before it had been agreed to by the neighboring states, 
Christopher Gadsden, Thomas Lynch, and John Rut- 
ledge, were appointed. The last was the youngest, and 
had very lately begun to tread the threshold of man- 
hood. When this first congress met in New York in 
1765, the members of the distant provinces were sur- 
prised at the eloquence of the young member from Caro 
lina. In the means of education that province was far 
behind those to the northward. Of it little more was 
known or believed than that it produced rice and indigo, 



294 LIFE OF GOVERXOR J0H2>" IIUTLEDGE. / 

and contained a large proportion of slaves, and a hand- 
ful of free men, and that most of the latter were stran- 
gers to vigorous health — all self-indulgent, and none 
accustomed to active exertions either of mind or body. 
From such a province nothing great was expected. A 
respectable committee of its assembly, and the distin- 
guished abilities of one of them who was among the 
youngest members of the congress, produced at this first 
general meeting of the colonies more favorable ideas of 
South Carolina than had hitherto prevailed. 

After the repeal of the stamp act, John Rutledge was 
for some years no further engaged in politics than as s, 
lawyer and a member of the provincial legislature. Ir* 
both capacities he was admired as a public speaker. IIi& 
ideas were clear and strong — his utterance rapid but 
distinct — his voice, action, and energetic manner of 
speaking, forcibly impressed his sentiments on the minds 
and hearts of all who heard him. At reply he was quick 
— instantly comprehended the force of an objection — 
and saw at once the best mode of weakening or repelling 
it. He successfully used both argument and wit for in- 
validating the observations of his adversary : by the 
former he destroyed or weakened their force ; by the 
latter he placed them in so ludicrous a point of light that 
it often convinced, and scarcely ever failed of conciliating 
and pleasing his hearers. Many were the triumphs of 
his eloquence at the bar and in the legislature ; and in 
the former case probably more than strict impartial 
justice would sanction ; for judges and juries, counsel and 
audience, hung on his accents. 

In or after the year 1774 a new and more extensive 



SOUTH CAROLINA PLEDGED. 295 

field was opened before Mm. When news of the Boston 
port-bill reached Charleston, a general meeting of the 
inhabitants was called by expresses sent over the state. 
After the proceedings of the British parliament were 
stated to this convention of the province, sundry propo- 
sitions were offered for consideration. To the appoint- 
ment of delegates for a general congress, no objection 
was made. But this was followed by propositions for 
instructing them how far they might go in pledging the 
province to support the Bostonians. Such a discordance 
of opinion was discovered as filled the minds of the friends 
of liberty with apprehensions that the meeting would 
prove abortive. 

In this crisis John Rutledge, in a most eloquent speech, 
advocated a motion which he brought forward to give no 
instructions whatever ; but to invest the men of their 
choice with full authority to concur in any measure they 
thought best ; and to pledge the people of South Caro- 
lina to abide by whatever they would agree to. He de- 
monstrated that any thing less than plenary discretion 
to this extent would be unequal to the crisis. To those 
who,' after stating the dangers of such extensive powers, 
begged to be informed what must be done in case the 
delegates made a bad use of their unlimited authority to 
pledge the state to any extent, a laconic answer was re- 
turned : " Hang them." An impression was made on 
the multitude. Their minds were subdued by the decision 
of the proposed measure, and the energy with which it 
was supported. 

On that day and by this vote the Revolution was vir- 
tually accomplished. By it the people of Carolina de- 



ij 



296 LIFE OP GOVERNOR JOHN RUTLEDGE. 

termined to be free, deliberately invested five men of their 
choice as their representatives with full powers to act for 
them and to take charge of their political interests. 
Koyal government received a mortal wound and the rep- 
resentative system was planted in its stead. The former 
lingered for a few months and then expired. The latter 
instantly took root, and has ever since continued to grow 
and flourish. An election immediately followed. The 
mover of this spirited resolution, his brother Edward 
Kutledge, Christopher Gadsden, Thomas Lynch, and 
Henry Middleton were elected. Furnished with such 
ample powers, they took their seats in congress under 
great advantages, and by their conduct justified the con- 
fidence reposed in them. 

John Rutledge was continued by successive elections 
a member of congress till the year 1776. He returned 
to Charleston in the beginning of that year, and was 
elected president and commander in chief of Carolina in 
conformity to a constitution established by the people on 
the 26th of March 1776. His duties henceforward were 
executive. He employed himself diligently in arranging 
the new government, and particularly in preparing for 
the defence of the state against an expected invasion by 
the British. Their attack on Sullivan's Island has been 
abeady related. 

On this occasion John Rutledge rendered his country 
important service. General Lee, who commanded the 
continental troops, pronounced Sullivan's Island to be a 
" slaughter pen," and either gave orders or was disposed 
to give orders for its evacuation. The zeal of the state, 
and the energy of its chief magistrate, prevented this 



RUTLEDGE TO MOULTRIE. 297 

measure. Carolina had raised troops before congress had 
declared independence. These remained subject to the 
authority of the state, and were at this early period not 
immediately under the command of the officers of con- 
gress. To prevent the evacuation of the fort on Sulli- 
van's Island, John Rutledge, shortly before the com- 
mencement of the action on the 28th of June, 1776, wrote 
the following laconic note to General Moultrie who 
commanded on the Island : " General Lee wishes you 
to evacuate the fort. You will not without an order from 
me. I would sooner cut off my hand than write one. 

J. RUTLEDGE." 

The successful issue of the defence has been already 
related. The consequences which would probably have 
followed from the evacuation of the fort, may in some 
measure be conjectured from the events of 1780 ; when 
the British, grown wiser, passed the same fort without 
engaging it. 



298 LIFE OF GOVERNOR JOHN RUTLEDGE. 



CHAPTER II. 

Eutledge chosen Governor of South Carolina — Member of Congress — 
His important services — Minister to Holland — Judge of the Court 
of Chancery— Member of Constitutional Convention — Associate 
Judge of Supreme Court — Chief Justice of the United States— His 
death. 

John Kutledge continued in the office of President till 
March, 1778, when he resigned. The occasion and rea- 
sons of his resignation are matters of general history. 
This did not diminisli his popularity. Of this the legis- 
lature gave the strongest proof; for the next election he 
■was reinstated in the executive authority of the state, 
but under a new constitution, and with the name of Gov- 
ernor substituted in the place of President. He had 
scarcely entered on the duties of this office, when the 
country was invaded by the Britisb General Prevost. 
The exertions made by Governor Rutledge to repel this 
invasion — to defend Charleston in the years 1779, 1780 
— to procure the aid of congress and of the adjacent 
states — to drive back the tide of British conquest — to 
recover the state — and to revive its suspended legislative 
and judicial powers, form the most important part of the 
history of South Carolina. On the termination of his 
executive duties in 1782, he was elected and served as a 
member of congress till 1783. 



MISSION OF RUTLEDGE AXD CLYMER. 299 

In this period he was called upon to perform an ex- 
traordinary duty. The surrender of Lord Cornwallis in 
October, 1781, seemed to paralyze the exertions of the 
states. Thinking the war and all danger to be over, 
they no longer acted with suitable vigor. Congress 
fearing that this languor would encourage Great Britain 
to recommence the war, sent deputations of their members 
to rouse the states to a sense of their danger and duty. 

On the 22d of May, 1782, John Rutledge and George 
Clymer were sent in this character, and instructed " to 
make such representation to the several states southward 
of Philadelphia, as were best adapted to their respective 
circumstances and the present situations of public affairs, 
and as might induce them to carry the requisitions of 
congress into effect v*^ith the greatest dispatch." They 
were permitted to make a personal address to the Virginia 
assembly. 

In the execution of this duty John Rutledge drew such 
a picture of the United States, and of the danger to 
which they were exposed by the backwardness of the 
particular states to comply with the requisitions of con- 
gress, as produced a very happy effect. The addresser 
acquitted himself with so much ability that the Virginians, 
who, not without reason, are proud of their statesmen 
and orators, began to doubt whether their Patrick Henry 
or the Carolina Rutledge was the most accomplished 
public speaker. 

Soon after the termination of Mr. Rutledge's con- 
gressional duties, he was appointed minister plenipo- 
tentiary from the United States to Holland, but declined 
to serve. 



o 



00 LIFE OF GOVERNOR JOIIX RUTLEDGE. 



In the year 1784 he was elected a judge of the Court 
of Chancery in South Carolina. The events of the late 
•war had greatly increased the necessity for such a court. 
John Rutledge draughted the bill for organizing it on a 
new plan, and in it introduced several of the provisions 
which have been already mentioned as improvements on 
the English court of the same name. Mr. liutledge's 
public duties hitherto had been either*legislative or ex- 
ecutive. They were henceforward judicial. If compari- 
sons were proper, it might be added that he was most at 
home in the latter. His knowledge of the law was pro- 
found ; but the talent which pre-eminently fitted him for 
dispensing justice was a comprehensive mind, which could 
at once take into view all the bearings and relations of 
a complicated case. When the facts were all fairly 
before him, he promply knew what justice required. The 
pleadings of lawyers gratified their clients, but rarely 
cast any light on the subject which had not already pre- 
sented itself to his own view. Their declamations and 
addresses to the passions were lost on him. Truth and 
justice were the pole-stars by which his decisions were 
regulated. He speedily resolved the most intricate cases 
— pursued general principles through their various modi- 
fications till they led to the fountain of justice. His 
decrees were so luminous, and the grounds of them so 
clearly expressed, that the defeated party was generally 
satisfied. 

In the year 1787 he was called upon to assist in 
framing a national constitution in lieu of the advisory 
system of the confederation. In arranging the provisions 
of that bond of union, and in persuading his countrymen 



DEATH OF RUTLEDGE. 301 

to accept it, he was eminently useful. As soon as it was 
in operation, he was designated by President Washing- 
ton as first associate judge of the Supreme Court of the 
United States. In this office he served till 1791, when 
he was elected chief justice of South Carolina. He was 
afterwards appointed chief justice of the United States. 
Thus for more than thirty years, with few and short 
intervals, he served his country in one or other of the 
departments of government ; and in all with fidelity and 
ability. In the friendly competitions of the states for 
the comparative merits of their respective statesmen and 
orators, while Massachusetts boasts of her John Adams 
—Connecticut of her Ellsworth— New York of her Jay 
— Pennsylvania of her Wilson— Delaware of her Bayard 

Virginia of her Henry— South Carolina rests her claims 

on the talents and eloquence of John Rutledge. This 
illustrious man closed his variegated career in the year 
1800.* 

* Ramsay's South Carolina. 



SKETCHES OF 

HEROES AND PATRIOTS OF THE SOUTH. 

( 303 ) 



GOVERNOR EDWARD RDTLEDGE. 



Governor Edward Rutledge, the son of Dr. John Rut* 
ledge, was born about the year 1750. 

He received his classical education in Charleston under 
David Smith, A. M., of New Jersey college, who was an 
able instructor in the learned languages. On finishing 
his classical education, he studied law with his elder bro- 
ther John Rutledge. In a due course of time he was 
entered a student in the temple, and proceeding barrister 
returned to Charleston and commenced the practice of 
law in 17T3. The high character of John Rutledge 
raised the expectations of the public that his brother 
would support the reputation of the name and family ; 
nor were they disappointed. His eloquence was great, 
but not precisely in the same line with his brother's. 
Demosthenes seemed to be the model of the one, Cicero 
of the other. The eloquence of the elder like a torrent 
bore down all opposition, and controled the passions of 
the hearers — that of the younger was soothing, persuasive, 
and made willing proselytes. In the practice of law, 
Edward Rutledge was directed by the most upright and 
generous principles. To advance his personal interest 
was a secondary object ; to do good, to promote peace, 
to heal breaches, to advance justice, was a primary one. 
20 (305) 



306 GOVERNOR EDWARD RUTLEDGE. 

His powers of persuasion were not to be purcliased to 
shield oppression or to support iniquity. Where lie 
thought his client had justice on his side, he would go all 
lengths in vindicating his claims ; but would not support 
any man, however liberal, in prosecuting unfounded claims 
or resisting those that were substantially just. He ab- 
horred the principle that an advocate should take all 
advantages for his client, and gain whatever he could for 
him, whether right or wrong ; or on the other hand, to 
assist him with all the quirks and quibbles which ingenuity 
can contrive, or the forms of law permit, for defeating or 
delaying the claims of substantial justice. 

Such honorable principles, connected with such splen- 
did talents, procured for him the love and esteem of all 
good men. In the second year after Edward Rutledge 
commenced practice, he was called to represent his 
country in the congress which met at Philadelphia in 
September 1774. He and John Jay of New York were 
nearly of an age, and the two youngest members of that 
honorable body. In this station Mr. Edward Hutledge 
continued for nearly three years. Throughout that 
period he was one of the most influential members. He 
had much of the esteem and confidence of Washington, 
and was often requested by him to bring forward parti- 
cular measures, for the adoption of which the general was 
anxious. 

Edward Rutledge has the honor of being one of the 
four members who signed the declaration of independence 
in behalf of South Carolina. His protracted absence 
from home, and continued attention to public business 
was no small sacrifice. His talents and popularity would 



MADE PRISONER OF WAR. 307 

have commanded the first practice at the bar ; but he 
loved his country too well to be influenced by pecuniary 
considerations to neglect its interests. In the year 1779 
he was again appointed member of congress ; but on his 
way thither was seized with an obstinate, tedious fever 
which prevented his proceeding to the seat of their de- 
liberation. In addition to his civil employments, Edward 
Kutledge held a commission in the militia, and regularly 
rose through all grades of rank in the Charleston bat- 
tallion of artillery to the rank of its lieutenant colonel. 
In the year 1779, when the British were defeated and 
driven from Port Royal Island, he as captain commanded 
a company of artillerists which earned its full share of 
the glory of that victory. 

In the year 17-80 he became a prisoner of war, and as 
such was sent to St. Augustine where he was confined 
for eleven months ; and on his exchange, delivered above 
eight hundred miles from his home and friends. He 
embraced the first opportunity of returning to Carolina ; 
but could not approach Charleston, for it was a British 
garrison. He was elected and served in the Jackson- 
borough assembly in 1782, and afterwards in the privy 
council of the state ; and in both rendered essential ser- 
vice to his country, but was obliged to lead a desultory 
life till the evacuation of Charleston in December 1782. 
When that event took place he returned to his proper 
home after an exile of nearly three years. He had set 
out with the most brilliant professional prospects ; but 
the Revolution deprived him for eight of the best years 
of his life from reaping the reward justly due to the 
studies of his youth. For the seventeen succeeding years 



308 GOVERNOR EDWARD RUTLEDGE. 

he followed his profession, and at the same time served 
in the legislature. Though a private member, he bj his 
persuasive eloquence directed most of the important 
measures adopted in that period for the improvement of 
the country. Many were the points which his eloquence 
either carried through or defeated in the legislature. 
For the good obtained and the evil prevented, his me- 
mory will be long respected by his countrymen. His 
persuasive eloquence will in like manner be held up as a 
model for young public speakers to form themselves upon. 
Though Mr. Edward Rutledge from theyear 1783 had 
withdrawn from the public life on a national scale, he 
was never absent from the public service. He was too 
much absorbed in his country's welfare to look with in- 
difference on the course of her public affiiirs. He kept 
up a constant correspondence with his friends, and par- 
ticularly his nephew John Rutledge, in congress. His 
opinions were much respected, and had great influence 
with a new set of members who took up the same national 
concerns in their progress which he had directed in their 
origin. He wanted no offices from the government, but 
ardently wished to see its national interests judiciously 
managed for public good. In moderating those collisions 
which in Carolina too often produce duels, Mr. Edward 
Rutledge had great address. His opinions as a man of 
honor were appreciated by all parties, and, being impar- 
tial, seldom failed of bringing round those explanations 
which without degrading were satisfactory. As a lawyer 
and a gentleman he was justly entitled to the honorable 
appellation of a peace-maker. He was eminently the 
friend of the distressed, and thought nothing too much 



HIS DEATH. 309 

for their accommoclation and relief. The talents of few 
were estimated equally high. The virtues of none at- 
tracted a greater proportion of public love and esteem. 
In the last year of his life he was elected governor of the 
state, and died in January, 1800, when in the discharge 
of the duties of that exalted station. 



310 COLONEL JOHN LAUllENS. 



COLONEL JOHN LAURENS. 



Colonel John Laurens, son of Henry Laurens, was 
born in Charleston in 1775. His early education was 
conducted by Benjamin Lord, reverend Messieurs Himeli 
and Panton. In youth he discovered that energy of 
character which distinguished him through life. When 
a lad, though laboring under a fever, on the cry of fire 
he leaped from his bed, hastened to the scene of danger, 
and was in a few minutes on the top of the exposed 
houses risking his life to arrest the progress of the flames. 
This is the more worthy of notice, for precisely in the 
same way, and under a similar, but higher impulse of 
ardent patriotism, he lost his life in the year 1782. 

At the age of sixteen he was taken to Europe by his 
father, and there put under the best means of instruction 
in Geneva ; and afterwards in London. 

In the course of his. youthful studies he united the 
plodding diligence of the mere scholar and the refinement 
of the gentleman. By a judicious distribution of his 
time, and doing with his might whatever he engaged in, 
he acquired as much solid useful learning as could be ex- 
pected from one, who, immuring himself in the walls of 
a college, renounced society ; and at the same time as 
many accomplishments as are usually attained by those 



STrDIES IX ENGLAND. 311 

wlio, neglecting all study, aim at nothing more than the 
exterior polish of an elegant education. In classical 
learning, the French and Italian languages, mathematics, 
philosophy, geography, history, and the ordinary circle 
of sciences, he was an adept ; and also excelled in draw- 
ing, dancing, fencing, riding, and all the graces and re- 
fined manners of a man of fashion. 

He was entered a student of law at the temple in 1774, 
and was daily improving in legal knowledge till the dis- 
putes between Great Britain and her colonies arrested 
his attention. He soon found that the claims of the 
mother country struck at the root of liberty in the 
colonies, and that she perseveringly resolved to enforce 
these claims at every hazard. Fain would he have come 
out to join his countrymen in arms at the commencement 
of the contest ; but the peremptory order of his father 
enjoined his continuance in England, to prosecute his 
studies and finish his education. 

As a dutiful son he obeyed these orders ; but as a 
patriot burning with desire to defend his country, he 
dismissed Coke, Littleton, and all the tribe of jurists, 
and substituted in their place Yauban, Folard, and other 
writers on war. He also availed himself of the excellent 
opportunities which London affords of acquiring practical 
knowledge in the manual exercise, of tactics, and the 
mechanism of war. Thus instructed, as soon as he w^as 
a freeman of legal age he quitted England for France, 
and by a circuitous voyage in neutral vessels, and at a 
considerable risk, made his way good in the year 1777 to 
Charleston. 

Independence had been declared — the American army 



312 COLONEL JOHN LAURENS. 

was raised, officered, and in the field. He who "by his 
attainments in general science, and particularly in the 
military art, deserved high rank, had no ordinary door 
left open to serve his country but by entering in the 
lowest grade of an army abounding with officers. 

General Washington, ever attentive to merit, instantly 
took him into his family as a supernumerary aid-de-camp. 
Shortly after this appointment he had an opportunity 
of indulging his military ardor. He fought and was 
wounded in the battle of Germantown, October 4th, 17 7T. 

He continued in General Washington's family in the 
middle states till the British had retreated from Phila- 
delphia to New York ; and was engaged in the battle of 
Monmouth, June 28, 1778. After this, the war being 
transferred more northwardly, he was indulged in attach- 
ing himself to the army on Rhode Island where the most 
active operations were expected soon to take place. 
There he was intrusted wdth the command of some light 
troops. 

The bravery and good conduct which he displayed on 
this occasion was honored by congress. On the 5th of 
November, 1778, they resolved " that John Laurens, 
esquire, aid-de-camp to General Washington, be presented 
with a continental commission of lieutenant colonel in 
testimony of the sense which congress entertains of his 
patriotic and spirited services as a volunteer in the 
American army; and of his brave conduct in several 
actions, particularly in that of Rhode Island on the 29th 
of August last ; and that General Washington be directed, 
whenever an opportunity shall offer, to give Lieutenant 
Colonel Laurens command agreeable to his rank." 



DECLINES MILITARY RANK. 313 

On the next day a letter from Lieutenant Colonel 
Laurens was read in congress, expressing " his gratitude 
for the unexpected honor which congress were pleased 
to confer on him by the resolution passed the day before ; 
and the high satisfaction it would have afforded him 
could he have accepted it without injuring the rights of 
the officers in the line of the army, and doing an evident 
injustice to his colleagues in the family of the commander 
in chief — that having been a spectator of the convulsions 
occasioned in the army by disputes of rank, he held the 
tranquillity of it too dear to be instrumental in disturbing 
it, and therefore entreated congress to suppress the resolve 
of yesterday, ordering him a commission of lieutenant 
colonel, and to accept liis sincere thanks for the intended 
honor." In this relinquishment there Avas a victory 
gained by patriotism over self-love. Lieutenant Colonel 
Laurens loved military fame and rank ; but he loved his 
country more, and sacrificed the former to preserve the 
peace and promote the interest of the latter. 

In the next year the British directed their military 
operations chiefly against the most southern states. Lieu- 
tenant Colonel John Laurens was induced by double 
motives to repair to Carolina. The post of danger was 
always the object of his preference. His native state 
was become the theatre of war. To its aid he repaired, 
and in May 1779, with a party of light troops, had a 
skirmish with the British at Tulifinny. In endeavoring 
to obstruct their progress towards Charleston, he received 
a wound. This was no sooner cured than he rejoined the 
army, and was engaged in the unsuccessful attack on 
Savannah on the 9th of October of the same year. 



314 COLONEL JOHN LAURENS. 

To prepare for tlie defence of Charleston, tlic reduc- 
tion of which was known to be contemplated by the 
British, was the next object of attention among the 
Americans. To this Colonel Laurens devoted all the 
energies of his active mind. In the progress of the siege 
which commenced in 1780, the success of defensive oper- 
ations became doubtful. 

Councils of war were frequent — several of the citizens 
were known to wish for a surrender as a termination of 
their toils and dangers. In these councils, and on proper 
occasions, Colonel Laurens advocated the abandonment 
of the front lines and to retire to new ones to be erected 
within the old ones and to risk an assault. When these 
spirited measures were opposed on the suggestion that 
the inhabitants preferred a capitulation, he declared that 
he would direct his sword to the heart of the first citizen 
who would urge a capitulation against the opinion of the 
commander in chief. When his superior officers, con- 
vinced of the inefficacy of further resistance, were dis- 
posed to surrender on terms of capitulation, he yielded 
to the necessity of the case and became a prisoner of 
war. 

This reverse of fortune opened a new door for serving 
his country in a higher line than he ever yet had done. 
He was soon exchanged and reinstated in a capacity for 
acting. In expediting his exchange, congress had the 
ulterior view of sending him as a special minister to Paris 
that he might urge the necessity of a vigorous co-opera- 
tion on the part of France with the United States against 
Great Britain. When this was proposed to Colonel Lau- 
rens, he recommended and urged that Colonel Alexander 



SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 315 

Hamilton should be employed in preference to liimself. 
Congress adhered to their first choice. 

Colonel Laurens sailed for France in the latter end of 
1780 ; and there in conjunction ^vith Dr. Franklin, and 
Count De Vergennes, and Marquis De Castries, arranged 
the plan of the campaign for 1781 ; which eventuated in 
the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, and finally in a ter- 
mination of the war. 

Within six months from the day Colonel Laurens left 
America, he returned to it and brought with him the con- 
certed plan of combined operations. Ardent to rejoin 
the army, he was indulged with making a verbal report 
of his negotiations to congress ; and in three days set 
out to resume his place as one of the aids of General 
Washington. 

The American and French army about this time com- 
menced the siege of Yorktown. In the course of it 
Colonel Laurens, as second in command with his fellow 
aid. Colonel Hamilton, assisted in storming and taking 
an advanced British redoubt which expedited the surren- 
der of Lord Cornw^allis. 

The articles of capitulation were arranged by Colonel 
Laurens on behalf of the Americans. Charleston and 
a part of South Carolina still remained in the power of 
the British. Cononel Laurens thought nothing done 
while any thing remained undone. He therefore, on 
the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, repaired to South 
Carolina to assist in recovering the state. 

Before he entered on active military duty, he obeyed 
the call of his country to serve as a representative to the 
state legislature, which was convened in January 1782, 



816 COLONEL JOHN LAURENS. 

at Jacksonborougli, witliin tliirt.y-live miles of Cliarleston, 
which was at that time a British garrison. His eloquence 
was then put in requisition for the public service. He 
was the advocate of every energetic measure of defence 
and oiFence, but declined all civil honors ; preferring to 
serve his country in the field. 

His legislative duty being over, he joined the southern 
array commanded by General Greene. In the course of 
the summer of 1782, he caught a common fever, and was 
sick in bed when an expedition was undertaken against 
a party of the British vfhich had gone to Combakee to 
carry off rice. Colonel Laurens rose from his sick bed 
and joined his countrymen. 

While leading an advanced party, he received a shot 
which, on the 27th of August 1782, at the close of the 
war, put an end to his valuable life in the 27th year of 
his age. His many virtues have been ever since the 
subject of eulogy, and his early fall of national lamenta- 
tion. The fourth of July seldom passes without a tribute 
to his memory. 



GALLANTPxY OF IIOWAllD. 317 



COLONEL JOHN EAGER HOWARD. 



No man possessed, in a higher degree, the confidence 
of General Greene — none better deserved it. He had 
every requisite for the perfection of the military cha- 
racter — patience, judgment, intrepidity, and decision. 
To his memorable charge -with the bayonet at the Cow- 
pens, so nobly supported by "Washington and his cavalry, 
that important victory is chiefly to be attributed. Nor 
do I regard his gallantry less worthy of admiration, 
when, at the battle of Guilford, following up the blow 
inflicted by Washington, he charged the second battalion 
of the British Guards, and nearly annihilated them. At 
liobkirk's Hill, his efl"orts to rally the broken regiment 
of Gunby, did him high honor ; nor did the bitterness of 
grief ever pervade the human bosom more keenly, than 
in his, when he found all his exertions to revive the 
courage of men, who, on every former occasion, were 
distinguished for intrepidity, were unproductive of the 
slightest effect. At Eutaw, he was severely wounded, 
but not till he had seen his regiment retrieve its tarnished 
reputation, and triumphantly pursue the enemy. — Gar- 
den s Anecdotes. 



818 COLONEL CARRINGTON. 



COLONEL CARRINGTON. 



I WISH, says Garden in his " Anecdotes of the Revo- 
lution," I could more particularly speak of the services 
of Colonel 'Carrington, as I am well apprized that he 
enjoyed the entire confidence of General Greene ; and 
by his judicious counsels, and unremitted exertions as 
Quarter Master General, greatly contributed to the ad- 
vantages gained over the enemy. It is an indisputable 
fact, that in a country exhausted, and deficient in all 
resources, he still contrived to provide such supplies for 
the comfort and support of the army, that he appeared 
to have achieved impossibilities, and not a murmur nor 
complaint impeded the progress to victory. A dispute, 
relative to rank, had called him to the North, before it 
had been my happiness to receive a commission in the 
service ; but, previously to the evacuation of Charleston, 
he had rejoined the army, and resumed his former sta- 
tion ; which gave me ample reason to believe that where- 
soever placed, his pre-eminent abilities must have been 
of the highest importance to his country. 



BRAVERY OF CAPTAIN o'NEAL. 310 



CAPTAIN O'NEAL. 



O'Neal was one of the officers of the Legion, who 
rose to rank and consideration by the force of extraor- 
dinary merit. He entered the army a private trooper 
in Bland's regiment, and was one of a gallant band who, 
when Captain Henry Lee T.'as sm-prised at the Spread- 
Eagle Tavern, near Philadelphia, resolutely defended 
the position against the whole of the British cavalry, 
and ultimately compelled them to retire. Lee, on this 
occasion, addressing his companions, and strenuously 
urging them rather to die than surrender, added — 
" Henceforth, I consider the fortune of every individual 
present, as inseparably connected with my own ! If v>e 
fall, we will fall like brothers ! If successful in repelling 
the enemy, ( and it needs but a trifling exertion of your 
energies to effect it,) my fortune and my interest shall be 
uniformly employed to increase your comforts, and se- 
cure your promotion." Nor did he ever swerve from his 
promise. Appointed, shortly after, with the rank of 
Major, to the command of a corps of horse, O'Neal and 
Winston, another of his faithful adherents, received com- 



820 CAPTAIN o'NEAL. 

missions, and to the last hour of the war, by uniform 
steadiness of conduct, and exemplary intrepidity, gained 
increase of reputation. It was said, on this occasion, 
that Tarleton, making his first essay as a military man, 
but for the accidental snapping of O'Neal's carbine, 
"would have fallen a victim to a bold effort, which he 
made to enter by a window at which he was posted, the 
muzzle of the piece being, at the time, within a foot of 
his head. Tarleton behaved with great calmness ; for, 
looking up, he said with a smile, " You have missed it, 
my lad, for this time;" and wheeling his horse, joined 
his companions, who, deceived by a false alarm, were re- 
tiring with precipitation. 



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